#the first one is part of my sib's favorite scene so far

[crispyjenkins]

(AC wip) The Savage Price of Piety

it's desmond's deathday and i wrote like. 9,000 more words to this wip (first two parts here) last week and i want to brag about it, so happy deathday you wet bastard (mostly gen but with a surprise rarepair, time travel/reincarnation, found family, william miles’ a+ parenting, accidental subterfuge, desmond goes by miles mostly, inspired by study of flight by @esamastation but with a twist!, only somewhat historically accurate swears by which i mean probably not at all but leonardo had some Opinions alright) have some (three) chronological but scattered bits of scenes

  “Oh,” Claudia says as soon as she opens the door, seeing Ezio’s rather wretched expression, “you’ve figured it out, then.”

  “You could have told me,” he growls, following her into the entryway and closing the door behind himself. 

  Claudia scoffs, spinning on heel to lead the way further into the building for the kitchens. “I had one conversation with the boy, brother, I was hardly sure of it myself. Wait,” she halts and points a finger at him accusingly, “how did you figure it out?”

  Ezio, quite graciously he thinks, ignores the subtle insult to his intelligence. Sighing, he pushes back his hood before their mother sees him with it on indoors, and runs a hand over his beard. “I had Leonardo visit.”

  Claudia’s face slackens, before twisting into a rage that has Ezio stepping away warily.

  But she punches the wall instead of her brother, a shouted “Gods damn it!” echoing in the narrow space. Then she spins on her heel and hollers further into the residential part of the bordello, “Mother! We forgot about Leonardo!”

  Horrified by his sister and concerned for his mother’s current mental state, Ezio reaches out to put a hand on Claudia’s arm, but he doesn’t get the chance before Maria de' Auditore is shouting right back, “God damn it!”

  Grumbling, Claudia stomps down the hall and leaves a very confused Ezio hurrying to follow; she ignores all his pleas for explanation until she’s stomped into the kitchen, where their mother is pouring two very large glasses of wine, with very little water to cut down the potency. She passes one to Claudia silently, and then they both drink, though luckily they aren’t attempting to down it all at once.

  “I can’t believe we forgot the Maestro,” their mother mutters to herself as she comes over to kiss Ezio on both cheeks, before shoving the still mostly-full glass into his hands.

  “Forgot him for what?” Ezio wants to know, clutching the glass like a mother clutches a babe.

  “To test if Miles really is an Auditore.” It’s said so flippantly, like it doesn’t affect Claudia at all, but she also collapses into one of two chairs at the little tea table under the largest window. Their mother takes the other, massaging her forehead and looking like she’s grieving their family all over again.

  It occurs to Ezio, as he moves to stand next to the table, that she probably is.

--

“It’s all up to you now, Seventeen.”

  Desmond opens his eyes to the dark of the dormitory, faint moonlight cutting over the floor between his bed and Nino’s, and he can’t bring himself to move — even to roll off his arm that is very much still asleep. 

  Clay still haunts him.

  Five hundred fucking years, and his current twenty-four besides, and that fucker still won’t leave him alone. If Desmond were not so familiar with what an actual Bleed feels like, he’d almost think Clay is stuck in his brain the same way as his ancestors. Thank fuck he stopped Bleeding Ezio’s memories and feelings, while still retaining much of the training.

  Fuck, time travel is so weird.

  Or, reincarnation? He’s not sure of much, but he’s sure he was dead, he’s sure he burned, and he’s sure that though his 15th century mother had affectionately called him [redacted], his name is Desmond Miles.

  Or just Miles, he supposes. Sue him, he panicked when Adele first approached him, and the best aliases are ones you know you’ll respond to, right? If only he’d have had the forethought to divorce himself from his... future family’s surname.

  It sounds different enough with an Italian accent that it hasn’t caused any problems, yet. Like making him flinch. Or snapping that he hasn’t been a Miles since he was sixteen.

  Granted, he still has no idea what he would go by instead. Altaïr and Conner would feel weird, while Sef or Darim are just a bit on the nose, and does he look like an Edward? Malik, maybe. His grandmother here, now, is actually from the Levant, so his skin is certainly dark enough that people wouldn’t be surprised by the name.

Except that feels almost akin to naming himself Leonardo.

--

  So instead, Leonardo spends every spare moment with his best friend, sometimes to brainstorm, sometimes to simply be there for him. It’s during one of these visits, he and Ezio once again observing the youngest assassins in the training ring, that he hears Miles laugh for the first time, and it’s as if ice water has been poured directly into his veins.

  Oh fuck. Oh Saints, oh Holy Father, oh fuck.

  “Leonardo?” Ezio asks quietly, head tilted towards him in concern, but Leonardo ignores him to stumble for the bannister to lean over it and stare down at Miles learning a little jig from Tullio, laughing all the while.

  He had only heard it once, truth be told, and it had been Salaí that had caused it, but even three years later, Leonardo remembers the laugh of Rodrigo Borgia’s sinister little shadow.

  Below, Miles doesn’t stop smiling, but his golden brown gaze yanks up towards Leonardo as if knowing his thoughts are about him. His eyes narrow, then widen slightly in realisation, and then he winces and looks away, which is all the confirmation Leonardo needs.

  Turning around, Leonardo grabs a confused Ezio by the arm and drags him from the training room, ignoring his protests until they find the nearest empty room.

  “Leonardo, what—?”

  “Romulus.”

-

#that last one 👀 #the first one is part of my sib's favorite scene so far #middle one is just des being a Mess #crispy writes #also #absolutely do NOT think about the timeline i beg u #i am gay and Tired #savage price #that'll be the tag for all posts about this fic #if i do end up posting more #anyway the other posts are now tagged with it too #not star wars #for those that filter on my blog #title from poor isaac by airborne toxic event! #which was my 2nd most-listened-to song this year #yoinking some tags from the last posts: #this whole fic is based on the trope of time travel des not knowing how to lie for shit and people making assumptions (à la study of flight #except their assumptions turn out to be mostly right #des isn't ezio's kid tho 👀

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Thai BL Favorites List ~

I was tagged by the lovely @thatgirl4815 thank youuu!! 🥰 I haven’t done one of these in a while lol. 

Favorite Thai BL: So we’re going with the hardest question first, great djkghf. I can’t pick one all-time favorite but my current top 3 are The Eclipse, Lovely Writer and Not Me I think.  

Favorite Pairing: FK are my main babes but I also love JaFirst, EarthMix, JoongDunk and a few others. 

Most underrated actor: never gonna shut up about how versatile Tommy S. is and how the world has been sleeping on him for years lol but unfortunately he’s kind of retired atm so yeah. a crime. 

Favorite Character: Again, can’t pick one but at the moment Max & Pisaeng from BMF are my spirit animals lol the writers did a fantastic job with them and Gawin and Aou are mastering the portrayal imo. 

Favorite Side Character: Jade from Bed Friend. 100%. He’s my best boy. Can’t wait for Middleman’s Love 🥺 

Favorite scene in a BL: One that's been living in my head rent-free for 2 years now is the piano scene from Lovely Writer ep12. Them sitting by the piano in matching outfits and Gene telling Sib “I keep loving you more, more than you love me” is my cue to sob fjdkgkdf I love that part so so much. 

Favorite line in a BL: “keep looking at me like that..” HAH just kidding. I can’t think of one right now.  

Most Anticipated BL (& why): Only Friends for very obvious reasons djkghdf. I’m also really excited for Dangerous Romance though!!! I feel like PerthChimon are a good match, I just hope it won’t be bro central station lmao. 

Healthiest relationship in a BL: I always thought LeoFiat from DSN had a very green flaggy relationship lol - I really appreciated their levels of communication and mutual respect. 

Most toxic relationship in a BL: Shin and Keng from The Effect. Not only is this easily the worst bl I have ever seen but the level of toxicity and the romanticization of ass*lt, r*pe and gaslighting is beyond my understanding. Stay far away from this drama please. 

Guilty pleasure series: At the moment Be Mine Superstar lol it’s so trashy and full of crack but I’m obsessed with it lmao. Highly recommend. 

thanks again for the tag this was fun! I’m passing it on to @leonpob @boun-prem @laowen @firstkanaphans @firstkpp @akkayanmisser @firstyok @khaotunq @k-white and everyone else who’s in the mood!! 

xxx

#tag game #thanks for tagging me! #<3 #bl dramas

[lestatslestits]

Um you like Animaniacs.... What is/are some of your favorite moment(s)?

Oh boy! Great question. Potentially absurdly long answer.

As far as the Warners go, I LOVE when they get really good sibling interactions, and also basically any time they get to have nice or just really funny interactions with the humans in their lives.

This bit in “Hercules Unwound” when Dot is having an off day and Yakko offers to skip the cartoon because she’s not feeling it. They’ve already skipped a cartoon earlier in the episode as well. It’s cute to see Yakko and Wakko caring more about their sister than teaching a lesson to their “special friend.”

This very important sequence from Wakko’s Wish, AKA the cutest Yakko and Dot scene. Literally one of my favorite moments in anything ever. This movie is the thesis statement for like…..85% of angsty Yakko content, at least until the reboot.

Dot messing up her name in Cutie and the Beast, and Yakko and Wakko being little shits about it (bonus: Dot swearing like a sailor). It makes me laugh every time. Also hearing Yakko referred to as “Mr. United States Canada Mexico Panama” never gets old.

The “I’m Mad” theatrical short has it all. Peak Warner sib moments and the best Dad!Scratchansniff content. The Warners are from the late 20s/early 30s. They are OLDER than the Looney Tunes, if you look at their canonical creation dates. Seeing them getting to actually act like kids makes me feel emotions. Also Rob Paulsen is voicing HALF of the characters in this very chaotic song.

The entirety of Meatballs or Consequences, but especially this section. It’s so cute watching Yakko and Dot ask to stay with Wakko, and “are we dead, or is this Ohio” makes me laugh every time. And Jess Harnell is both Wakko and Death! I love hearing his different accents.

This scene from “Fear and Laughter in Burbank,” the OTHER angsty Yakko thesis statement. Do you wanna see an animated character have an on-screen panic attack and then almost have his soul eaten? This is the bit for you. I would LOVE to hear Rob Paulsen’s perspective of this moment, because it’s…a lot, given some of his real life circumstances at the time. Also here there be scary clowns, so if you don’t like clowns, skip this one.

“Yakko’s Big Idea” from the segment of the same name. I’m SO normal about this scene where Yakko is inventing the perfect world for him and his sibs to play in.

Drive Insane, especially the bit from around 0:30 to 1:15 seconds in this video. The Warners tormenting Scratchy by making people think he’s their dad is never NOT funny to me.

“It’s New Year’s Eve” from Hooray for North Hollywood Part 2. It’s so cute seeing them have a good time and be accepted by everyone, and it’s cute to see them celebrating Mr. Plotz. Just don’t think about how this fits into the last few episodes. Don’t. Look at Yakko giving Dot a lil kiss on the cheek instead.

Non Warner Segments:

Les Miseranimals is THE iconic Rita and Runt segment. It’s so good. This isn’t the whole thing, but I definitely recommend going and watching it all.

You could blindfold yourself and stick a pin in a list of Pinky and the Brain episodes and be almost guaranteed to get a great one, but Bubba Bo Bob Brain is one of the absolute best.

The first 30 seconds of this video includes probably my favorite Pinky and the Brain exchange of all time, from Wakko’s Wish

Honorable Mentions:

West Side Pigeons (Goodfeathers)

De-Zanitized (The Warners, and I’m only not including it because I could talk about it for about an hour)

Smitten With Kittens (Rita and Runt)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock (Slappy Squirrel, and I’m not sure it’s one of my favorites so much as it makes me want to study Tom Ruegger like a bug because what the hell)

Literally every Chicken Boo segment, I’m not singling any of them out because every Chicken Boo segment is funny to me.

Lookit the Fuzzy Heads (The Warners and Buttons and Mindy, as well as a Tiny Toons Adventures crossover, shhhhh no one tell anyone that I enjoyed an Elmyra segment)

This is embarrassingly long, and I probably still forgot some. Everyone please watch this cartoon.

#animaniacs #yakko warner #wakko warner #dot warner #pinky and the brain #patb #rita and runt #animaniacs 2020

[nebulaleaf]

Heh. Giving youuuuu… akira and futaba. for ask game. bc theyr neat.

they ARE neat. tey're probably one of my fave relationships in this game. this is gonna be . real bad because i am not very articulate tonight .sobs cries. this is just me word vomiting about how much i love the sakura family, akira included sorry .

your ideal/headcanon version of it? how does it differ from how it is in canon & why is this your favorite version? any other alternate versions of it you enjoy? definitely siblings. i won't shoot you dead for shipping them as it's none of my business but age gap, futaba's dependency on akira and other various reasons i see not to ship them aside... i think the main killer for me is just how familial they act... I can't ever imagine futaba having a crush on akira like. that's her older brother that's the guy she uses as a human shield in a walmart. that's the guy who'll let her sit on his shoulders to get a pc part that's too high up. that's the guy she'd sicc on a classmate like a dog!! she's so blase towards him in the romantic aspect save for like... one scene that doesn't even feel that romantic, just weird imo. i'm also down for them just being pals and not sibs but... idk there's just a specific layer to it that i enjoy far more when it's played like that. i really wish i could word it blurgh.

what do you like about their relationship, why is it interesting or enjoyable to you? I am not immune to siblings alright. i see a character who's a good older brother and has a soft spot for his sister and i weep because i know he'll probably be my fave. kicking rantaro amami down the stairs fuck you man. anyway i kinda feel bad just reducing them to that because there's so much i enjoy in how they interact but i can't put it to words. im on the cusp of futaba's palace in royal though so be on the lookout for posts where i go fucking insane .

what about the individual characters involved? what does this relationship mean to them, what makes it unique among their relationships? honestly i think akira's relationship to futaba means the fucking world to him. obviously he loves all of the thieves, but futaba specifically ... man. i should just say the sakura family as a whole... idk how well akira's home life is or isn't, but the sakura family feels like Just what he needed, y'know? caring but not overprotective, blunt but not cruel... a good mix of giving him the right space but also loving him unflinchingly and hey!! he fucking reciprocates that shit too!!!! and on futaba's end... yeah this is an important relationship to her too. when you first get her and the gang tries to reintroduce her to social situations.............. it's like autism to autism communication. akira is that perfect blend of a safe space, but not too safe where she'll never come out again. he will protect her but push her out to do things when needed and DAMB! she do be needing that. they fill that niche void in the other in ways the other thieves can't. like yeah futaba is the "little sister" of all the pts in a way, but she clearly interacts with akira differently than the rest of them... n yeah you cvould chalk that up to akira being a silent protag whup whup we need her to be clingy so you can have an UwU Gamer GF; but shut up fucka you. It's Different. To Me. and i'm serious like again the scene where all the PTs push her... she ends up reacting well to both situations in the end, but she reacts Best to akira's prompting because he's not too lax like ann and ryuji n' not too forceful like makoto was. zing. zing. i'm gonna shut up on this one now because im embarrassed Ah Hee Hee

favorite interaction they have in canon either the fire crackers scene outside of leblanc or futaba's first beach trip. the way she glances at akira for approval and then he just... gives her that soft smile... it fuckign kills me oh my god. [grabbing you] im so normall about that scene i only watched it thrice. oh my god and then the christmas scene......... that one is a close third

favorite interaction they have in your head/a situation you want to put them in so many. all the time constantly. I want them to get into shenanigans. I want Futaba to bring her classmates home to Leblanc and for all of them to laugh about Akira tripping over the mop as he delivers their coffee. I want akira to gently tuck her back into bed when she stays up too late studying or going too hard at school/social interactions in general. i want futaba nag at him to take better care of himself until she has to whip out the pleading puppy-dog eyes to one hit KO his older brother instincts. i want them to steal credit card information together and make sojiro go grey by next year from the sheer stress of having these hyper-intelligent morons in the same room.

#ask meme #what if i died. #sakura siblings #sure fuck it. #p5ram

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 12 first part

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Nonsense) 

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Wen Indoctrination Time

In an obvious hostage-taking ploy, Wen Chao has gathered all of the heirs of the major clans to stand around on a lava pile and listen to him talk. Initially, Wei Wuxian is on his best behavior, other than constantly trying to ask Lan Wangji what the fuck is up with him. 

Wei Wuxian: And by “during this time” I mean “today.” 

Bye Bye Sword, Bye Bye Happiness

Wen Chao demands that everyone give up their swords, because no-one can have weapons during their stay. Lan Wangji can materialize his guqin out of thin air by this point, and when he gets older he’ll be able to do it with swords, money, flutes, and lubricant, but I guess for now taking his sword will make him slightly less dangerous.

Wei Wuxian is the first to comply, doing his best to not make trouble until tomorrow.

The next time Wei Wuxian holds Suibian, he’ll have lost the ability to wield it. 

His three friends give up their swords with varying degrees of reluctance. Not-friend Jin Zixuan makes a big scene about not giving up his sword, and speeches are made about cultivators needing their swords, all of which is to set an expectation for Wei Wuxian’s later sword-related choices. 

MianMian averts the pending disaster by reminding JZX to do what his dad told him. Wen Chao lets the Jins off the hook because he thinks MianMian is cute. His GF will target her later for the same reason. 

(more after the cut)

Learning the Rules

Everyone gets assigned to memorize clan rules like a bunch of fourth graders. 

Wei Wuxian is literally the only one who appears to be doing the reading. He’s really trying hard to be compliant...today.  He quickly notices the dissonance between the Wen founding principles and their current behavior. 

Sounds like my kind of town!

The brothers discuss the text and Jiang Cheng offers an apparently insightful comment that doesn’t make a lot of sense in English. 

It seems like idioms can be hard to translate. 

Meanwhile Jiang Cheng unpacks his suitcase and finds his favorite purple jammies, and the comb of ambivalent attraction that he hasn’t given to Wen Qing.

He yearns for mere seconds before getting distracted by Wei Wuxian. Dude, you’re just not that into her.

Wei Wuxian has figured out that Lan Wangji being in Qishan without an entourage means that something bad has happened, and tries to dash off to find him. When the guards stop him, he discards his “don’t make trouble” plan for a new plan: do whatever will give him a chance to talk to Lan Wangji.

Whenever Wei Wuxian talks about what he’s going to do in the future, he’s talking about his belief and/or his hope at that moment in time. A later moment may change his plan. He should use weasel words whenever he speaks of the future to anyone, so they can set expectations.

I’m probably not going to make trouble during this time. I’m probably going to be your right hand man when you’re clan leader. I’m possibly not going to turn to demonic cultivation. I might recover Wen Ning’s consciousness. Asking is asking, buying is buying.

Wen Sibs

We get to see Wen Qing’s smoke shop, which looks cool and medicinal, with bundles of stuff hanging from the ceiling. Wen Ning is using the cultivator equivalent of a peloton, whiling away the time while he’s not allowed to stalk his idol. 

Wen Qing tells him to stay away and refuses to give him a reason. This generally works great on teenagers.

She also tells him that they will never be friends with Wei Wuxian. 

Dramatic irony!...and also she’s just incorrect about her brother and about herself. They are exactly the same kind of people as Wei Wuxian: people who put friendship and kindness ahead of their family rules, and ahead of any promises they may have made along the way. 

School Rules

Wen Chao is in no mood for anybody’s crap so he decides to call on the two stubbornest cultivators, who refuse to recite the rules.  

So then he decides to call on the most obnoxious cultivator. 

Wei Wuxian was born ready for moments like this, and his agenda has changed from “don’t make trouble” to “get detention with that boy I like.”

He continues to try to get Lan Wangji to notice him, while Lan Wangji continues to outwardly ignore him. 

Instead of reciting the Wen clan rules, he recites several of the Lan Clan rules, earning smiles from Nie Huaisang and Jin Zixuan, and abject horror from Jiang Cheng. 

Wen Chao reacts predictably, spluttering and sending all three of the disobedient students to be punished. 

Poo-nishment

The three non-learners are punished by being made to carry buckets of poo. All I have to say about this scene is 1. ew 2. they’re awfully horrified for people living in an agrarian society.

Wen Chao, Whip Master

Wei Wuxian argues with Wen Chao, leading Wen Chao to try to whip him. 

Wen Chao is the worst whip user ever; Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji both catch his whip in their hands.

Can Wen Chao use a sword, come to think of it? So far his weapons have been 1. weird bird and 2. Wen Zhuliu. HIs girlfriend’s cultivation level is so low she carries a hot poker instead of a sword - maybe this is the same reason he’s stuck with a whip. Anyway, he is a failure at using it unless the recipient is tied up. 

Once Wei Wuxian is tied up--in a rope so magical it doesn’t have to obey the law of gravity or even lay flat against the arms of the person its confining--Wen Chao whips him, earning the wrath of Lan Wangji and a stern warning from Jin Zixuan. 

He has his rope guys put Wei Wuxian down on the ground, giving Lan Wangji an opportunity to hold his boyfriend’s arm for a really, really, really long time while continuing to not speak to him.  

I’m expressing a normal level of concern

I’m making sure nothing is broken

I’m checking your blood pressure

I’m just feeling your muscle now TBH

Wen Chao explains his pretty stupid logic that if Xue Yang doesn’t have the Yin Iron (which, uh, he DOES), Wei Wuxian must have it. Because there are only two cultivators capable of hiding a chunk of resentful iron, I guess? What abut Song Lan, he wears black robes too!

It’s almost as if the Wen clan was targeting Wei Wuxian for reasons other than his attachment to Lan Wangji...right, Jiang Cheng? 

Even More Punishment

Wei Wuxian defuses the situation by cheerily going to spend the night in the dungeon, having no idea of the acting challenge horror that awaits him. 

Part two coming later this week!

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #wangxian #chen qing ling #the untamed gifs #restless rewatch the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #canary3d-original #my gifs

[starrysupercell]

UwU the rest of the outline at per request. @lumpy-veev (still unfinished but it's okay! This should be thought of as a rough draft.) 💙

🦝 "RaR 3" or "Breaking Point" 🐍

It would be an unofficial Brawl, which is not allowed, but it happens, and what can you even do?

I see the two as basically ignoring each other's presence upon finding out that the other is there. Of course, as much as they won't admit it, it's making them think of. Everything.

This leads to even more on edge tense atmosphere whenever they would cross each other's path, because even if it’s a big park, you can only avoid someone for so long, especially when you happen to have common associates. (the Coworkers, Tara, etc.)

It doesn’t help they have growing animosity and take every little thing personally for every interaction.. and it’s only been a month or two.

Rumors begin to pick up around the park-- Just a little chatter at the bar. Just a little observation that those two sure have something between them huh? The gossiper is shushed, because did you forget who runs the place? his connection to Byron?

Luckily, the bartender didn’t seem to hear. He was busy cleaning glasses. The topic’s changed. customers continue to come and go.

One who arrives is Piper, who sits down at the bar. It’s busy, so she waits patiently for Barley to get her usual. (he’s good at that.) He sets down a coaster and the glass in front of her, but instead of a greeting and bustling away this time, he sticks around.

“Byron is well on his way to becoming a topic of interest around here...” he tells her.

She leans forward with a smile. “What have they said? And who, for that case?”

He explains what he heard, and omits the names.

Piper thoughtfully considers this. She had noticed this, but hadn’t chalked it up to a personal history, just conflict of interest. (byron was well off, belle was a thief. he would be cautious) Now that she knew, she wanted every drop of intel.

“I can talk to him. we wouldn’t want our dear coworker being talked about, do we?”

“I do not.” Barley replied, tipping his hat to bid her goodbye as he steps away to another client. He lets Piper take care of this, because he likes letting people come to him if they want to talk, and he feels that Byron would have already approached him if that were the case.

~

So, it’s another one of their patented teatime tête-à-têtes.

Piper skirts around the issue before dropping the news of whispers about the two.

But Byron doesn’t humor the topic, and refuses to talk about it.

Piper cheerfully pokes at him. “Crossed paths? Did you know her before the Park? maybe previous business associates? She robbed you, but you had good insurance, and one day she tricked you? Ooh~ Former flames-?"

And then Byron stands up and is about to leave wordlessly until that last suggestion processes bc if he doesn’t clarify now, ugh that’s gonna be what Piper thinks is plausible (kind of, bc he gay af) and he does NOT want that to be a thing.

“She’s a relative,” he says with so much distaste before he leaves that Piper is even more intrigued. but at the same time, there’s something that tells her she shouldn’t fan the fire any further.

they’ve had their share of back and forths, and it’s been a blue moon since something had gotten him so upset that he just up and leaves.

she drops it, and as the #1 gossipmonger of the park, the hushed whispers of “mystery between byron and belle?” is completely stamped out with a dismissive attitude and several “Really? I didn’t notice anything.”

If Byron really and truly didn't want this around the park, she'd honor that.

~

Of course, with QD Edgar on occasional trips with the Gang, that’s the biggest connection the sibs have at the moment.

The first time Edgar name dropped Byron, Belle froze and listened to 2.47 more seconds of the teen's rambles before telling him to get a move on around camp and quit yapping.

Edgar didn't notice this first time around and grumpily went about his way.

But I'm sure there's one thing or another that makes Edgar talk about his dad manager again, and one thing that will really piss Belle off, is comparison.

Tara, who notices the shift in mood, puts herself in between Edgar and Belle and swiftly soothes things over. She suggests getting on with the plan they have (already knowing what Belle will respond with).

"heist cancelled," Belle states, rearing up Elodie and galloping away from camp. (She usually winds down on her own after celebrating a big heist, but never before-- and never had called it quits at that.)

Edgar is put off. Tara muses that it's nothing he could help...

On her own, Belle just contemplates everything. Hours. It brings up familiar memories of being up on the rooftop with her head buried into her arms and knees feeling terrible.

Except now she's more than grown, with her share of things to be proud of and great memories she forged on her own. She's not curled up on herself anymore. She's staring to the long distance of the desert-- her home-- traveling with ease.

That stupid rooftop section of her life is nothing more than a fraction of her well-lived life.

It doesn't make her feel better.

Yet another thing Byron ruins for her without even trying.

She needed a drink.

~

Not wanting to head back to her camp for the night, and not in the mood to try nabbing some good drink, Belle simply walks into the bar and orders something.

Barley treats her the same as any Brawler, despite what he now knows about her.

As far as he was concerned, she came in there as a customer. And as long as she paid, he saw no problem in serving her...

She drinks quietly, and he keeps an eye on her intake.

And eventually, just like with any other customer with something heavy on their mind and enough drinks, words flow easier.

She doesnt use names, and keeps terms vague. Speaks angrily of her parents. Calls the brother a "dumbass of a pushover."

Now, it isnt like he associates Byron as a (pardon his french) 'dumbass' in any way, but it's the way she uses it that makes Barley connect the dots. The tone wasn't as bitter. Almost fond. Almost.

He lightly prods for a little bit more insight, and she gives up a little more as she drinks.

Unlike the other two members of his Trio, it wasn't in his nature to gossip, so this would stay between them.

Barley listens, because that's what she needs right now. Not advice, not interjections or lectures or deflecting the subject. Just someone to listen.

Eventually he cuts her off before she gets too inebriated (and probably causes trouble.)

{I AM going to write this scene out in depth. And cry while doing so.}

~

On the other side, after the season and back at the Gift Shop, Edgar is 🤔🤔 over that incident. He considers talking with Colette but 1) she's as mad as a Colette could be at the fact that he hung out with the NEW BRAWLER and TARA and didnt bother getting her ANYTHING. and 2) tbh she's a blabbermouth.

Byron does his regular check of the shop that day. Making sure Colette hasn't run off and Edgar isnt sneaking a nap.

He welcomes Edgar back from his little trivial loot and shoot games.

While Edgar hadn't even thought twice about it before, he recalls that when he had told Byron he'd be working at a different section of the park (namely with the new Brawler, Belle) he had acted just as dismissive.

Like yeah, there was your usual "old man doesn't get the teens" shenanigans, but Byron had never belittled his interest in anything before. Calling his involvement in the season a 'trivial game' sounded... personal.

He outright asks Colette if Byron was acting weird.

Any snippiness that Colette may have had for 2 minutes diminishes when there's a chance to talk with her favorite person in the world that she's seen little to none of for two months, AND about her favorite topic: Brawlers!

She spills everything she knows, because despite Piper's efforts, theres no secret a Brawler can try to keep when shes around.

She didn't find out everything of course. But she knows that there were questions involving Byron and Belle. Piper hushed it up, so for sure there was something.

Edgar nods. "Totally. I think she was close to rippin' my head off once. I brought up Byron once and she was ready to chew me out." (in case i didn't make it clear, Edgar picked up a slight drawl because of belle)

"Cool!" Colette exclaimed. "..I mean, not the rip your head off part. But that is cool too. I meant do we have lore on our hands?? That nobody ELSE knows!!?"

Edgar shushed her. Byron is in his office but the shop wasn't really sound proof.

......cue shenanigans from the Coworkers trying to figure things out in their very amateurish ways compared to Piper by "sneaking" around and "nonchalantly" trying to get him to admit something.

Byron knows they're up to something, and humors them until realizing the topic when Edgar tries bringing up the Goldarm Season.

He shuts them down even faster than Piper.

Of course, instead of deterring them like her, he just confirms their suspicions. Colette and Edgar are "o yeah we are def going to get to the bottom of this."

~

So, it's plan B! If they even try asking Piper she throws them for such a loop and leaves them so bewildered that Colette even forgets to ask for anything she could keep, and Edgar didnt realize she gave them nothing to work with until they're already out the door and down the street with cake pops in their hands.

So, Plan C! ...Barley.

It's hard to find a time to go there, since it's busy when they get off work. And Barley always seems to be at one place or another....

So the kids choose the perfect time (roughly midday), and just wait for the perfect day... when Byron comes in and checks the shop, then decides on his own that they could handle it for the rest of the shift and leaves them to it.

When the stars align, the teens wait until Byron is out of sight, and close up the gift shop. Their plan is to head to the bar... and maybe try and get something out of Barley..... not much of a plan, but they don't realize it there.

They make haste, running to the bar, because time crunch (when/if complaints start rolling in.)

Bursting through the doors of the Bar, Barley gives them a look. "Don't.. do that, please."

Colette apologizes enthusiastically, and urges Edgar forward. "Ask him! I'll keep watch!"

She hops over to the door and peers through it periodically.

Meanwhile, Edgar is stammering because he didnt plan anything to say, he expected Colette to talk to the robot.

"If you two think I allow underage drinking, I most certainly do not, no matter what Penny says." Barley warns.

"Uhh, no it isn't that. ...Umm. do ya know... well, you would know about Byron, and not Belle, I guess. But they've been acting weird lately, and we want to know why."

. . .

Barley pauses in consideration.

Options and questions flood around his mind, and he still had no answer.

Wonders if he should even mention Belle's visit some time ago, or the fact that he knows more in depth about it than Byron would care for, or that if Piper found out he knew more than her, and then told these two over would she be offended? ....Actually, in that case, why was he considering telling them anyway? Well, if they were interested in the topic for genuine reasons...

Edgar doesn't even know what to do either. Barley's not saying anything.

Colette squeaks, and scrambles from the door. "Edgar!! Any luck here? Because we're out of it over there!"

"What?"

"I think I see Byron heading here!!"

Who would have thought.

this is where i kind of dropped off the outline, but to continue/wrap it up, Barley points them to the curtain that covers the back room. There's an exit there which he tells them about, but the teens stay to EAVESDROP bc they care.

Barley and Byron chat. the conversation dips into the area having to do with Belle.

Byron frowns. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you're trying to get me to admit something, Barley. I can understand Piper, but you?"

"Me?" Barley asks. "Sir, you know I never mean harm."

"..." Byron stares at him unconvinced. "If Piper did put you up to this, you can tell me."

"U.. Believe it or not, I am among others in this park who care about you, Byron."

"...." wouldn't that be nice. But Byron believes him. My bad. He humors his coworker for now. "Fine." And asks for a drink.

Barley gets him his preferred one. [Lol I'll come up with it eventually.]

They talk. Barley finds out a little more. But just a little bit. Byron... it isnt like he has practice talking about ☆~feelings~☆

The teens listening in leave before too long. Colette is like O.O;; and Edgar decides that all they wanted to know was the relation between Byron and Belle, and they got that.

She agrees, and they both leave through the back door.

Byron didn't get as drunk ofc, it's still his working hours. Just enough to loosen up a bit and get through mild robot therapy.

After his leave, Barley sees him off, and then goes to check in the back. They're gone and he has a brief "oh, thought they would have gotten the hint to, listen in. Oh, well."

[There's one more event, involving the Coworkers interacting with Belle one last time, but still unplanned <3 it leads to the meet up and the fight... somehow though. I'll release that when I think of it.]

I can also see Piper being ":0 you knew before I did? And didn't tell me? You're mischievous, Barley!" In a very light hearted way at the very end.

Barley frets ;;; "I am not!"

#Brawl Stars #Townsfolk Trio #Belle #SCT #Coworkers #My Outlines

[captainficspace]

Heroes and Villains- Allison’s Day

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy

Characters: The Hargreeves Sibs

A/N: Happy day 3, everyone :) I thought it would be super fun to write about the sibs as kiddos and tbh I had the best time. I hope you all enjoy 

Despite the entire having powers thing, they never got tired of playing superheroes. Maybe they should have blamed it on the training drilled into them nonstop; it was all they knew. But if it was, maybe it wasn't so bad compared to the other parts of their childhood. They all had memories of racing through the house after each other, shrieking and laughing and lost in the fantasy of being someone else.

  Allison had a secret bent towards villains. She loved the drama of it all, the scheming, the witty remarks, the dark colors and flowing costumes. While everyone fought over who got to save the day, she reveled somewhat in getting to be bad, just for a moment.

   Especially when she got to pick on her brothers, finally getting an upper hand before someone inevitably rushed in to the rescue.

  "Now here's your last chance before I drop you into the worm pit...who are you working for?" She paced the length of the room before dramatically turning on her heel and facing Five, their damsel in distress for the day. He leaned back in a chair, arms behind his back like he had been tied up.

 "Fuck you!" Five's voice cracked and Allison couldn't help giggling. In all honesty, he was the first in line to be "captured" and be oh-so unfortunately trapped in the villain's lair, avoiding Luther and Diego desperately trying to one-up each other with their rescue.

  "We have ways of making you talk." Klaus announced, flinging Allison's boa over his shoulders and fluttering the edge over Five's neck. He squealed.

"You said you would let me hide here until Luther showed up!"

 "You gotta tell me your secret identity or it's into the worm pit you go!" Klaus wriggled his fingers and Five shrunk away.

 "What my assistant said!" Allison said, “We know your weakness, and if you don’t surrender now, so will the world.”

 "Not so fast!" Diego announced, masked and all as he appeared in the doorway, "You've done evil for the last time…evildoers." Five bit back a smirk. He couldn’t say his brother wasn’t trying.

 "Oh no. I'm so scared."

"As you should be!" Ben added, emerging by his side.  Allison struck a haughty pose, head tipped back and hands on her hips

  "Whatever, I STILL have your secret code to the confetti factory so I can break into the vault and take ALL the-EEK"

  Her pose was exactly perfect for Five, who they only pretended was tied to the chair, to sneak up from behind and shove his hands up under her arms, right where he knew it tickled most.

 "You've found her weakness!" Klaus grinned, rubbing his hands together and letting out an evil laugh. He couldn’t help but sneak in a few pokes to her ribs himself.

 "You TRAITOR!" She shrieked, trying to get away from the death grip Five had on her.

"I’m the bad guy! I do what I want."

“Then do you want to help us interrogate Madame Wicked?” Diego asked.

“What do we need-“

“Interrogation!” Ben was just going to assume Diego didn’t know entirely what the word meant yet, but he was happy to go along with the plans.

Luther joined them, skidding to a halt in the doorway, dramatically late when everyone knew he was just waiting to come in at the last minute and save whoever needed it. This time, it seems that his squad had beaten him to the sweet satisfaction of justice; the threat already contained as everyone was in the process of seeing what information Allison was going to give up.

  “What’s your real name?”

“Where are you keeping the codes?”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Klaus!”

They all piled onto each other, a wriggling ball of kicking limbs and shrieks. Diego ended up pinning Allison’s arms behind her back so Five could get better leverage at her ribs. She was nearly folded in half with laughter, her long hair falling in her face. They had already forgotten about extracting information and gone straight to torture for torture’s sake.

“Try her neck.” A voice said from the doorway. Vanya watched the scene play out in front of her, a faint spark of mischief in her eyes. Allison went to protest, but all that came out were shrieks as Ben lightly tickled down the back of his sister’s neck. Her legs kicked out and nearly hit Luther in the face.

“Do you want to try?” Ben asked, “It’s fun.” Vanya shook her head, but she was smiling for once, lingering for a moment to watch before she left. It could be considered an improvement, possibly.

“I’ll get you for this!” Allison said, although to no one in particular. All of her brothers were playing an equal role at being terrible.

“Not from white-collar business prison, you’re not. Because it’s on an island. Underwater.” Luther declared.

“And it’s guarded by penguins!” Klaus added.

“And the penguins know karate.” Diego said.

Just when Allison thought she was going to lose her mind completely, Five screeched.  Everyone turned and noticed Klaus had gotten bored picking on his sister and had looked for someone else to bother instead. He rubbed his knuckles up and down Five’s ribcage, making him howl.

“I’d like to see you all try and get away with that! Especially now that I have the heir to the confetti factory fortune.”

“Stohop s-switching sides!” Five managed between giggles, trying and failing to glare him down.

“Make me! I’m eeeevil again.” He took a swing at Ben as well, who squeaked as he dodged his hand. What brought him back on track was the sound that left Allison’s lips, so different in nature from her loud, musical laugh.

“She snorted!”

“She sounds like Luther.” The others burst into giggles at Ben’s observation. She would have retaliated instantly and tickled Ben until he cried if she were able, but she was far beyond being able to do anything at that point. Her face grew hotter as more snorts found their way out. She couldn’t even get her hands out of her brothers’ grip to cover her mouth.

 “Ok! OK!” She shrieked out, kicking and fighting until they all finally stopped. Allison wanted to go back into villain-mode so badly, all aloof and dramatic. However, she had just had a full-blown snort fit and her uniform was hopelessly rumpled from wrestling with the others and her stomach hurt from laughing so much. The best she could do was manage to look pissed-off.

 “Now TALK.” Diego grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her playfully. His smile was giving him away, and everyone was now far too giggly to suspend their disbelief too highly.

 “It’s too late. I’ve passed on the information to one of your own. There’s a double-crosser among you.” Allison rubbed her hands together before pointing to Luther, the one who had suspiciously joined the “heroes” so late.

“Surprise, bitches!” Number one grabbed Diego in a headlock with one arm and launched a tickle-attack on his belly with the other, making him screech. Allison had finally started to carry about her revenge on Ben for going for her neck. Klaus, now back on the villain side, had Five by the wrist and was skittering his fingers over the palms of his hands, sending him into hysterics.  

The plotline of their game only became more and more convoluted from there, but the confetti factory heist saga was the most fun anyone had in months. Victory flipped from the heroes to the villains and back again countless times over the course of the afternoon. Everyone claimed they had found the other’s weakness, and the halls echoed with giggling and shrieking. Allison stayed “evil” the entire time either to carry out torture or receive the vengeance that maybe wasn’t so terrible after all; what was the point of being good all the time if she couldn’t at least pretend to be just a little bad?

#tua tickle fic week

[recurring-polynya]

🔆 — obviously they end up married and procreating, but in your headcanon, do you see them expanding their family? Having more kids? Being content with just Ichika? She seems like 2 kids in one kids body. Where do you see the Abarai family in the future?

🔆 do they see themselves together for the long run ? like , getting married , starting a family , and all that jazz ?

So, when I first found out the timing on Ichika, I was honestly pretty upset about it. Part of it is that I think it’s nice for people to be married for a while without kids. We don’t know when Rukia and Renji actually started seeing each other romantically, but my personal preference is that it happened late, possibly during or after the TYBWA. We do know from WDKALY that they had a pretty short engagement, and then conceived Ichika almost immediately following the wedding. It’s kinda depressing to me that they would have this huge separation, followed by two years of slow burn, followed by six months of dating -> engaged -> married and then BAM preggo. Dang.

Secondly, even though she’s been a lieutenant for a year, tops, Rukia is now acting captain of a squad that has just taken enormous losses, one of her top officers has just transferred to Squad 4, and the Soul Society is in ruins. This seems like... a terrible time to have a baby?

On top of all this, Rukia has never struck me as a person who has always dreamed of being a mom or would be particularly delighted to find herself pregnant. I’m not saying she wouldn’t want to be a mom, or that she wouldn’t be a good one (I am not a particularly maternal mom, and to be honest, I think we could use some better representation). I think Renji would both like to be a dad and would be an excellent and intuitive dad, but he loves Rukia for who she is. He would accept not having kids before he would try to talk her into doing something she didn’t want to.

I am a compulsive fix-it person, but within the confines of canon, so I spent a lot of time trying to make sense of all this. In my ongoing, low-burn, canon-spanning fanfic epic, I tried to put in a few earlier scenes where Rukia interacts with some Kuchiki family members who have babies, and starts to feel some stirrings that having babies doesn’t mean quitting your job and your personality. She’s always valued her independence, but she’s also been alone for a really long time, and at the same time she is trying to adjust to the idea of maybe she would like to have a romantic partner, she’s learning the trials and tribulations of having a sibling, and she’s really re-examining her entire concept of family.

I have never been particularly fond, either, of the idea that Ichika is somehow the Kuchiki heir (and I don’t think she is, especially since she has Renji’s name, but we really don’t know for sure and it’s a common enough idea in fanfic), because the entire Kuchiki family is kind of a drag and also they are problematic billionaires and I don’t like Rukia and Renji just blindly assimilating into that. As a compromise, I came up with the idea that maybe Byakuya named Rukia and Renji a branch family to the Kuchiki (his favorite branch family, don’t tell anyone), so they’re part of the family, but pretty far off from the actual succession and they have a lot of freedom to Start Shit and make the other nobles clutch their pearls constantly.

Bringing it all together, I can finally start to make some sense of this. Rukia and Renji get married with the sense that they would like a family, plus they are somewhat obligated to generate an Heir. It’s shitty timing for sure, but the timing is only going to get shittier. I have heard of women who get PhDs and have babies in grad school. On one hand, this is an absolutely bananas thing to do. On the other, if you know that’s what you want, it is entirely rational, because at least most grad students have a flexible schedule and it’s better than having toddlers when you’re trying to get tenure. If you can manage it, this is actually a really effective way to manage a scientific career. So, in other words, they had their (1) baby, and then Rukia got down to brass tacks, training her bankai and getting her squad in shape. I can definitely see Renji in a primary caregiver role (I think they have a nanny, but he scales back at work and takes care of a lot of stuff), and that also partially explains why he’s still a vice-captain. (If any of this is compelling to you, I did write a short story about it once)

Now, I am actually going to get to your question and the answer is: it depends on what happens in a theoretical continuation of Bleach.

Rukia has just been officially been named a captain in the Bleach epilogue. I think that if things continue to be peaceful, and she settles into her role, after a few years, I could definitely see them sitting down at dinner and saying “you wanna have a big family?” Maybe two or even three more. Ichika is practically an adult at this point, but given the longevity of souls in Soul Society, I feel like it’s not uncommon for kids to have even multiple decades between them. I don’t think she would have any bitter feelings about this, she has always appreciated as being an integrated part of their lives, even when it got a little hectic and also she really loves her baby sibs.

On the other hand, if there’s another big war or an extended period of low-level conflict, I don’t think they would have any regrets if Ichika turned out to be an only child. Rukia and Renji have had a tremendous number of awful things happen to them in their life, and I think they have a tendency to focus on what they have instead of what they don’t.

The primary thing that I think would put a crimp in further kid plans is if Renji had to take a captaincy. I don’t think Renji particularly wants to be a captain, although he would be an excellent one. The way the setup of captains is after the timeskip, I cannot imagine anyone retiring, so I can’t see this happening in the peaceful scenario. I have no idea whose place he would even take. In fact, even if some captains got killed in some future conflict, I would think that by that point, Kira or Hinamori, for example, would be more likely to step up and take over their squads than to bring in Renji. Renji certainly wouldn’t take 1, 2, 4, 12 or 13, and they already blew the storyline where Byakuya dies and he takes 6. I suppose he could take one of the other squads if they lost both captain and vice-captain. Renji becoming the new Kenpachi is the spiciest possible take and I would read the shit out of that.

The actually family development I would like to see would be for Byakuya to get married, dude it is your job. Are you guys ready for my dream Byakuya love story that I will never, ever write because I do not ship him with any existing characters and I would die if I had to tag something Byakuya x OC? TOO BAD, here it is anyway: I think Byakuya doesn’t think he could ever fall in love again, and up until the main Bleach storyline, the idea of being remarrying is abhorrent to him. After a few years of being an ancillary part of the Abarai family, though, I think he could finally bring himself to find some suitably noble wife to Bear Him an Heir. In Byakuya fashion, I imagine he would dig through a bunch of genealogy records and find some woman who is the dead end of some old lineage of Great Soul Society Generals or some shit and out-of-the-blue proposes to her. This woman is the Spinster to End All Spinsters. She is like, 400 years older than him. She is not conventionally attractive and wears a lot of sweaters she knits herself. She has a lot of special interests, including carnivorous plants, and is extremely hardcore about her hobbies. She is the Sybil fucking Ramkin of Soul Society. Her spiritual energy is bonkers. She and Byakuya do not get along at all, but that’s okay because they have big plans to ignore one another (aside from procreational intercourse). Rukia is losing her mind. Renji is trying to smooth things over. Nothing is smoothed. Hitsugaya rather likes her and keeps trying to give Byakuya pep talks. Finally, like, Byakuya’s prize orchid almost dies and she saves it and Byakuya goes full heart eyes for her, and he has to be romantic at her. He wears an ill-fitting sweater she makes.

So, to sum up: Rukia and Renji get married, have Ichika. Byakuya gets remarried, makes an heir or three. Twenty to thirty years later, Renji quits to go be the stay-at-home soccer dad he’s always wanted to be. Byakuya Jr. becomes Vice-Captain at the Sixth (or possibly Ichika? That would be fine, too). Rukia eventually becomes head captain. When the younger batch of Abarai kids get old enough, someone convinces Renji to run for office and he becomes the Leslie Knope of the Central 46. Bam. The best timeline.

#otp meme #renruki #i...have thought way too much about this #this was very long and rambly #but you asked!

[razberryyum]

The Untamed/陈情令 Rewatch, Episode 8

(spoilers for everything MDZS/Untamed)

[covers MDZS chapter...none, really...Team CQL pretty much goes completely rogue for this ep]

WangXian meter: 🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰

I really thought that Wei Ying should have named his binding technique “无聊” (“wu liao”, aka “lame”, “silly”, “boring”) in honor of Lan Zhan, since that’s his favorite response to Wei Ying. It’s a shame he didn’t end up doing that, felt like a total missed opportunity, especially since he never did decide on the actual name.  The two names he came up with, “sharing clothes” and “no clothes” (according to Viki's translation), felt little more than just Easter eggs for novel readers since we know eventually the two of them do partake in both states of dress and undress. In the context of the actual technique, they really don’t make much sense. However, interestingly enough, in the WeTV subs, the two name choices were actually translated as “binding” and “bonding”, which definitely seems more applicable. Based on my limited knowledge of Chinese words, the Viki translation seems to be a more literal translation of the words used, so I’m not sure how the WeTV team came up with binding and bonding instead, unless those are the figurative meanings of those Chinese characters.  I would love it if a fellow fan who is much more Chinese literate could school me on which is more accurate translation, but seriously, how much cuter would it have been if Wei Ying had just gone with 无聊?

Team CQL deciding to throw in more yin metals to the story was really a stroke of genius considering how much mileage they got out of that little invention: they got to introduce Xue Yang and eventually the Yi City boys earlier, provide a more extensive backstory for Lan Yi which of course also impacted other plot elements downstream, utilize Wen Ruohan more as a villainous character (which I personally consider a minus), stretch out the running time for more episodes, and most importantly, create more bonding opportunities for Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. First time I watched this episode I straight out cheered when Wei Ying skipped out on his Yunmeng fam to go after Lan Zhan; I thought that was so adorable. I was so looking forward to their adventures together. Too bad their alone time only lasted a few minutes...literally less than 4 minutes; I actually kept track this time around. Originally I thought that Nie Huaisang was brought in to be a third-wheeler because it would have been too suggestive for Lan Zhan and Wei Ying to spend time together off on their own, but after finishing the show and seeing all the other times they've spent together all alone, I soon realized I was totally overthinking things and it really was for the story's sake. One point I was never clear on was how did NHS clue into the fact that Jin Guangyao was behind his brother's death, since qi deviation actually seemed a reasonable explanation for his demise. Guy was bleeding through all his face holes, but he also had the ghost puppet lines on his neck. Because of NHS' experience here with Lan Zhan and Wei Ying when they faced off against the Wei villagers he was able to see firsthand how people affected by the Yin metal looks so I wonder if that's how he made the connection with what happened with his brother since Nie Mingjue also had those veiny markings on his neck. This had to be the only opportunity he had to see ghost puppets up close since he didn't really participate in the battle part of the Sunshot Campaign.

I could be way off base of course and perhaps the actual answer is more obvious than that, but one of the reasons I look forward to rewatching the show is filling in these gaps I have in terms of the plot and seeing if my conjectures to what I previously hadn't figured out yet are correct or not.

Another benefit to NHS' sudden appearance was seeing how Lan Zhan seemed almost jealous at how chummy Wei Ying was being with him.  He didn't look thrilled at all when NHS popped up, and then that look on his face before he turned away from them was really the epitome of disapproval. Actually, he looked a little pissed. I wonder if he was actually disappointed to be reminded that Wei Ying's overt friendliness was not just reserved for him, since he was just as exuberantly social to NHS as well.  

But progress was being made in their relationship just the same: take the fact that he didn’t fling off Wei Ying’s hand when he grabbed hold of him. Prior to their time in the cold pool cave, I doubt Lan Zhan would’ve allowed anyone to touch and lead him that way. In fact, he’s straight out said before that he doesn’t like physical contact with others. Obviously that’s no longer the case anymore, especially when it comes to Wei Ying. It's only the first of many more instances of hand grabbing and other touches between them. It's so exciting watching their relationship slowly but surely growing all over again.

Although, when it comes to Wei Ying, I think it takes a much longer time for his feelings toward Lan Zhan to undergo any change from close friendship. I'm probably alone on this, but while I think he likes Lan Zhan a lot, I don’t think his feelings went through the same transformation to love that Lan Zhan’s did until much, much later.  Or at least, not in the way that he is actively aware of.  He clearly felt an instant kinship with Lan Zhan, but I think it takes a long while before he even understands that it’s different from how he feels towards someone like Jiang Cheng or even Nie Huaisang.

Watching him as he admired Lan Zhan's beauty, I was naturally tempted at first to ascribe more meaning to his reaction than just appreciative appraisal because I wanted Wei Ying to be enamored with Lan Zhan already. But the truth of the matter is, now that I’m able to take a step back and really assess their relationship, I don’t think Wei Ying was quite at the maturity level yet to be able to properly comprehend what his admiration may actually be an indicative of. Wei Ying has a big heart, which is one of the most lovable qualities about him, but because of his heart and it's boundless capacity to love and care for others, I think even he himself can't decipher the differing levels of feelings he might have for different people.  And because it will take him a long time to realize the greater significance behind his attachment to Lan Zhan, it’s really heart-breaking how he almost carelessly friend-zones Lan Zhan at various points in this first part of their lives before he finally wakes up. In fact, I can pinpoint the exact moment when I believe he wakes up, but since it's still in the far future, I’ll save my further ramblings on that matter until then.

Bunny Time with the Yunmeng Sibs

I love bunnies a lot and I also love the Yunmeng siblings a bunch, so naturally I wanted to love this moment completely as well, especially since seeing Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng nuzzle bunnies is just one of the cutest sights I've ever been laid eyes on. Unfortunately, there was one thing that put a damper on the scene for me and it was seeing Wei Ying throw that poor bunny at Jiang Cheng.  That wasn't a stunt bunny he tossed, it was the real thing. I rewound several times just to confirm it. I winced so hard the first time I watched the scene that I think I gave myself a toothache, and even now I still grimace a little when I see it. For my peace of mind I have to assume Wang Zhuocheng (who of course portrays Jiang Cheng) did catch the bunny and the take we saw was not a do-over because he actually missed it so they had to redo the scene again. I will also have to assume that the bunny was the same bunny throughout the rest of scene which means it survived the toss and it was just fine afterwards since bunnies are usually fragile little creatures and are susceptible to heart-attacks at just the slightest shock (and being suddenly tossed in the air would definitely qualify as that). The alternative is just too gloomy otherwise. Chinese productions don't generally have a good track record when it comes to animals so...yeah...I gotta stop thinking about it and just focus on the siblings cuddling the cute rabbits.

I hope someone adopted the bunnies and the cast and crew didn't just cook and eat them afterwards.

ChengQing

It actually just crossed my mind tonight that Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing's ship name actually sounds like part of the Untamed's Chinese title. I don't know why I didn't notice it before. The extra "g" probably threw me off. Anyway, the way this scene started was rather odd because based on the way they greeted each other, it was as if Jiang Chen and Wen Qing were on the outs, like they just had an argument or something. Which doesn't make sense because the last time they saw each other was at Cloud Recesses, where Jiang Cheng was still making puppy eyes at Wen Qing while she was making her lantern wish, but then cut to here and it's like he's not even that thrilled to bump into her again. What happened to his little crush on her? I was kinda disappointed.

Wen Chao is a Close-Talking Creep

I don't like Wen Chao but I absolutely enjoyed He Peng's performance of him because he is so effectively creepy and shitty. Just the way he purposely invades Big Bro Xichen and Wen Qing's space as he threatens them totally made my skin crawl.  More than once I've wondered how the hell Wen Qing was able to grow up around him and not get harassed in the worst way.  He's also such a petty dick, with the way he purposefully dirtied big brother's rug for no good reason other than to be a shithead. But then, later on, when he's called to be totally pathetic to the point where he's downright sympathetic, he was able to pull that off with equal aplomb. So even though I almost hate his character, I do want to take this moment to give some love to the actor, whom I think did a really good job. Playing villains is sometimes an equally thankless job as playing the straight man, especially with villains like Wen Chao which aren't meant to be alluring like Xue Yang or likable like Jin Guangyao. He could have easily veered into caricature territory, which I actually thought the actor for Wen Ruohan did so that's why I didn't like his performance nor was I able to take him seriously as a character, but He Peng's Wen Chao always seemed grounded to me. I think a big reason for that is because the actor, in his own words, viewed his character as an arrogant, spoiled rich kid instead of a soulless villain and therefore chose to play him that way. As a result, I think he was still able to infuse Wen Chao with a small degree of humanity.  The fear he felt whenever he had to face his dad was palpable. He's basically like a bully because his upbringing allows him to be one, but ultimately he's still a weak human being. That's why, when he turned into a sad, sniveling shell of a man under Wei Wuxian's torture, I found him really pitiful and actually felt bad for him.

Odds and Ends

Seriously, why the hell was Wen Chao able to hold the yin metal with his BARE HAND like that??? They've been saying time and again how powerful the metals are, how full of resentment they are, how normal people can't just handle them cuz even a highly cultivated person like Lan Yi was done in by just one piece, so how come a medium-powered mofo like Wen Chao was able to just hold as if it was just a some rock he picked off the ground? Even if the yin metals were only just activated from their dormancy, they're still soul-sapping implements of evil, so this really should not have been possible.

The dear translators kept on calling Wen Chao's bird an "owl" and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out WHY. There is nothing about that thing that resembles an owl, imho. It looks more like a raven with eagle talons and the sounds it made were like that of a hawk, so I really can't figure out how they got owl from that. Even the Chinese words for owl ("猫头鹰") is completely different from the characters used for that bird. I mean, I guess it could be one of those deep dives like how they came up with "Childe" for all the male honorifics, but seriously why even bother? Probably would’ve been easier to just call it a raven since that's what the cloudy mass looks like the most. Although I must say, I do love the way it looks: I like that they use the evil smoky effect for it since it’s suppose to be a bad birdy. I think it's one of the more successful CGI effects in the show.

Team CQL can be proud of themselves for the owl/raven/whatever effect, but then they should also dunk their heads in the toilets for this shitshow at the Wen Village. There was no consistency to these guys...some had the whited out eyeballs that up until then, all ghost puppets on the show have been shown to have, but then some, like that female extra in the front had regular eyes. And then some of the extras were rolling up their eyes. It's like, was there NO direction give to these guys? This whole Night of the Living Not Dead scene was a complete embarrassment. Any tension they were trying to build up for this scene was completely destroyed as soon as these walking jokes showed up.

Lastly, I had to laugh when Wei Ying quickly divulged the secret of the yin metals to Nie Huaisang without much prompting whatsoever. He JUST pledged himself to secrecy in front of Big Bro Xichen and Uncle Lan in like the last episode, and he already broke the promise by this one. What was more amazing was that Lan Zhan didn’t even bat an eye at it nor did he even try to stop him. I guess they both completely forgot about the promise already.

Question I Still Have

Actually, I’ve had this question since the beginning but now seems to be a good time as any to ask this, since this episode ended on those guys: WHY they're called "ghost puppets"? I've actually never heard of the Chinese words they used for the zombies before, on any other show.  Was this terminology just a creation of the Untamed’s scriptwriter just for the show. And if so, I still don’t understand why they have to be called ghost puppets since they’re clearly NOT ghosts. Calling them "living" puppets would’ve been more appropriate. If someone has some insight on this, I’d appreciate the knowledge drop.

Overall Episode Rating: 7 Lil Apples out of 10

Disclaimer: The Untamed would not be possible without Mo Dao Zu Shi and Mo Xiang Tong Xiu-laozi.  I mean no disrespect whatsoever with my humble comparisons between the novel and the live action, even when I sometimes favor the changes in the show. All hail MDZS and MXTX-laozi always and forever!  

#The Untamed #陈情令 #spoilers #WangXian #Untamed Rewatch #Mo Dao Zu Shi #CQL #MDZS #魔道祖师 #Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation #Founder of Diabolism #Wei Ying Wei Wuxian #Lan Zhan Lan Wangji #Nie Huaisang #Yunmeng Siblings #Jiang Cheng #Jiang Yanli #ChengQing #Wen Qing #Wen Chao #He Peng #Lan XiChen #Lan Qiren

[calliecat93]

Top 5 Things That I Liked About RvB: Singularity

(Top 5 Dislikes Post Link)

Being negative sucks. A lot. I always hate typing the Dislikes post. It helps me vent, but I just hate talking about the bad stuff. But there were things that I felt were worth talking about, so I did it. Good news though? It’s now out of the way! So now we can talk about the Top 5 Things I Liked About RvB Singularity! Hooray!

As I said, I don’t think that RvB17 is as good as 16 or even 15. But it’s still a good season. It had a lot of things that I enjoyed and still enjoyed during the rewatch. While it is important to note how a season failed, it’s just as important to note how it succeeded. You want to remember what went right so that you don’t lose sight of what made it enjoyable and continue to make it better. As such, this is what I liked about the season! And again, just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

                                              __________________

#5. Pacing Improvements

My biggest problem with both S15 and 16 where their pacing. S15 was a one-shot season, and as such was very rushed even with a 21 episode count. S16 started very quickly and kicked the plot off within two episodes… but doesn't really delve back into it until Episode 13, eleven episodes later. I still love both seasons for what they had and I do think that S16 had a good reason for being slower, but to say that it turned fans off is an understatement. It was a huge issue and clearly one that needed to be fixed.

S17 did much better in this regard. Despite me listing the episode count as the thing I disliked most, it DOES have the advantage of not having to add as much filler/padding and being able to focus on what needs it. The first half of the season was by far the best. It got into the plot quickly. But it never felt rushed or like it was over-compensating. The build-up from S16 did enough that there was no need to drag out anything. We could leap right in and get to the parts that we wanted to see. As such, I felt engaged with each episode and each episode always provided something new and exciting. Even with my feelings about the second half, I never got bored and the episodes still continued to provide something new and unexpected. It’s a sign of good writing which I thought that Jason did well with, especially considering he had to take over in the middle of a story when Joe walked. Miles was there too and we know that he’s good, but it was Jason mainly, and he did fantastic.

Ultimately, due to the pacing, the season accomplished what it set out to do. It was a fun, if mind-breaking, time travel story. It had Donut become a more three-dimensional character. It had Wash and Carolina reconcile and accept what had to be done. And all without feeling like it was taking too long or like it was cramming in too much… aside from Episodes 7 and 8. Which is why it’s at Number 5, the pacing DID go back to feeling rushed and crammed in the second half ala S15. Only this time, they crammed it into six episodes instead of 21. As such, while I was still entertained and the writing and emotions were still solid, the second half is weaker and much more frustrating as a result. Still, it was a marked improvement and I can’t say that I was ever bored or disengaged. So credit where credit is due!

                                             __________________

#4. The Labyrinth/character insights

I LOVE The Labyrinth! Ever since it was mentioned in S16, I was excited for it, and it did not disappoint! It is, essentially, an angst machine. When you are stuck in it, it tortures you with all of your fears, doubts,   guilt. Worst, it adapts and learns, so even if you get past one scenario, it’ll just find something else. The way that it attacks can also differ. Sometimes it makes you face your past self. Sometime sit plays on your insecurities. Sometimes it gives you what you wish for, but with a dark twist. Whatever it can do to make you suffer to the point that you fall into the Black Hole, whether by choice or forced into it, it’ll do.

This concept is frekain’ fantastic. I love it! So why is it at Number 4? Well, first of all, we only get two episodes of it. Which don’t get me wrong, I loved what we got. Some were pretty straightforward and obvious, like Tucker and Wash’s scenarios. I didn’t agree with all of them, which is another reason why it’s Number 4. Grif’s, while I got over it, I think could have been much stronger, Tucker’s while not bad I think needed something more fitting, and Simmons… well, we all know how I feel about that one. Also not sure why Doc and Donut weren’t affected at all aside from timing dictating that they couldn’t go into it. Honestly, I think that The Labyrinth should have been the main setting and had everyone trapped in their worst scenario or memory instead of The Everwhen. But that’s just me. But yeah, I feel that it wasn't used to its full potential and not all of the scenarios were ideal, so it’s at Number Four.

That being said, I did enjoy what we got. My two favorites were Sarge’s and Carolina's. Sarge’s was still humorous, but also insightful. He hated the desk job one and wanted something more bloody and war-like. He got his wish, and immediately regretted it. He can't handle civilian life, but he can’t handle true brutal war either. I don’t get how they managed to do the ‘funny but insightful’ thing correctly with Sarge but dropped the ball so badly with Simmons, but whatever. It was really great. And Carolina’s… do I need to elaborate on it? We see her confronting the manifestation of her hate and guilt. It tries to break her down, but Carolina fights back. She has her friends. She found a new family, and she won’t let the ghosts of the past haunt her anymore. It was fantastic and shows just how far Carolina has come… and hopefully, it ended her constant guilt trips for sure. Seriously, please give Carolina something happy next season. She’s earned it. And The AVatar himself was enjoyable despite his brief screentime. I liked him!

There is one more scenario that I want to get into, but… how about we go to the next number for that one?

                                             __________________ 

#3. Kaikaina’s Labyrinth/Grif Sibs Moment

If you read my Dislikes post, you know that I was NOT happy about how Grif was handled. Heck, ‘not happy’ is probably an understatement. But I also said that the finale DID make me happy. Now I’ve already talked about how I feel about Grif regarding this scene and the retcon about him enlisting over being drafted. Long story short, I like this better and it makes sense for his character, especially when you look back at S15. It still doesn't excuse how the rest of the season handled him, but they got it right here and I like to give credit when it’s due. You can read this post to see more of my thoughts, but yeah I loved it then and I still love it now.

So instead, let's talk about Kaikaina. Boy, have I had a rollercoaster journey with her. I went from finding her utterly pointless in Blood Gulch, to loving her with all my heart in S16 and this season. She existed essentially to have more sex jokes, but Joe and Jason managed to take her and make her so much more. She’s still sex-crazed and foul-mouthed, but she’s also a successful businesswoman who is confident, happy with who she is, and has a good level of emotional maturity. It’s why I loved her and Tucker last season and why I LOVED it when she told off Tucker (no matter what you think of Tucker in that season, he had it coming). S17 even had her actually referred to by her actual name and not just ‘Sister’, which I greatly appreciate.

Point is, these past two seasons did an amazing job at making Kai a character in her own right and like a true member of the BGC. And when it comes to her Labyrinth, it adds so much more. We often focus on Grif’s side of things… but think about poor Kai. Her dad is out of the picture, her mom was too busy despite favoriting her over Grif, she had to be raised by an older brother who probably wasn't fit to care for a young girl despite trying his damnest, and honestly she probably was left to fend for herself a great deal. Then when Grif went to college and them ‘was drafted’, she was even more alone with an irresponsible mother who decided that trusting a teenage girl with changing a smoke alarm was a great idea. How the fire started, whether Kai did it on accident or it was just bad luck, is up in the air but it happened and poor Kai blamed herself for it. She lost her home. Her mother had to live in a trailer park, which she clearly feels terrible about. Her brother wasn't there to comfort or help her. She was utterly alone. I mean remember, she enlisted just because she wanted to be with her brother again. The one good person in her life… and even then not only did he tell her to leave, but she got shafted off to the opposite team by him. Even if it was for her own safety, that had to hurt.

The Labyrinth really helped to show that side of Kai. The more vulnerable side that we hadn’t seen yet. She sounds much more like a child when she sadly recalls what happened to Grif. Which we then realize her actual fear, her brother hating her. The brother that she went into space to find and be with and who she loved unconditionally, even when she was left alone on Blood Gulch, blamed and hated her. It’s why Grif knocking the Avatar out was so satisfying, as well as him confessing. Kai had every right to be angry at him, and going off her ’Hey, you left!” comment, there is clearly some bitterness there. But even then, she loves her brother. She forgives him. I can imagine her yelling at him later when they do eventually talk, and she has every right to. Still, it’s a super sweet moment that does a lot for both characters. I mean Grif’s first instinct when Donut explained the situation was to go and find Kai out of fear for her safety. I’m a sucker for sibling stories, and they nailed it here.

                                             __________________

#2. Wash and Carolina Plotline

Now, as I’ve said in other posts, I’m not a huge Freelancer fan. And tbh, I was pretty happy that Wash and Carolina were more lowkey in the past two seasons because every since their respective intros, everything more or less revolved around them. That being said, the development of Wash having cerebral hypoxia due to the bullet wound and Carolina’s actions after really did appeal to me both for personal reasons and because it was a new angle within the story. The ending with them in S16, where Wash was angry at Carolina for lying to him and her being so desperate to make it right that she and the others broke time, was dramatic and made it clear that there was a lot between them that S17 was going to have to work through.

And they did it perfectly.

Wash’s anger at Carolina is 100% understandable. He had /brain damage/ and was lied to about it by his closest friend. But it’s not like Carolina did it out of maliciousness. She did it out of fear of Wash thinking that he was broken and didn’t want him to be hurt. It was still wrong, but it’s easy to see why she went down that route and sympathize with her. With both of them. And neither one are portrayed as right or wrong in their actions. Yes, Carolina made a HUGE mistake and deciding to save him did much more harm than good. But she did it because she loved Wash (imo platonically) and she wanted to spare him of any more pain and misery, no matter the consequence. Wash had every right to be angry at Carolina for lying, but it wasn’t good to hold onto that anger nor be unwilling to ever forgive Carolina without taking her side of it into account.

This is what made the first half so strong. Despite what happened, Wash is still willing to save Carolina and the others. Despite obviously not wanting to be brain-damaged, he knows that time being fixed was more important and he’s willing to make that sacrifice. And as much as I’m tired of the ‘Carolina did something horrible and feels guilty about it’ plot that the writers just LOVE to use (I get that the pst has consequences, but it’s gotten old), it worked for this story and you do truly feel that Carolina had nothing  but good intentions and cares deeply about Wash. I mean chances are, she’s still learning how to properly handle personal situations like this, something that facing her past self in the Labyrinth I think helped highlight. Even now, her past still haunted her, and now she’s finally realized that she isn’t that person anymore, has a new family to fight for, and pushing the past away for good.

And going back to Wash, I’ve seen some people unhappy with the show deciding to keep his brain damage. I have to disagree. For one, if you’re going to do a story like this, don’t chicken out. Second… why is this a bad thing? I think that S17 perfectly demonstrated that Wash is NOT a broken man. Sure, at that time his brain damage was temporarily averted, but he showed that he’s still a strong character. He’s a good leader, a smart fighter, cares for his team and will do whatever it takes to protect them, and he perfectly held his own throughout the entire fiasco. Yes, he’s going to struggle. A lot. He knows it. But he’s still Wash. He’s still capable of being the person that he’s grown to be, just with a little more help. That is not at all a bad thing. He can get through this. Will it be easy? Hell no. But after all the other bullshit that he’s been through, I think that he proved that he can pull through it. Honestly, I respect him much more as a character now than I ever did before, and as long as they treat his condition respectfully, he will be fine going forward.

This story really showed how much that Wash and Carolina have grown since everything with Freelancer wrapped up, as well as how much their relationship as grown. I don’t ship them, but it’s clear that there is a strong trust and love between them after all that they went through and this story tested that. Even when amnesic, Carolina trusted Wash and didn’t question it despite she herself pointing out that she shouldn’t be feeling that way. Wash ultimately decides to forgive Carolina and put his trust in her again, even pulling her aside to talk to her about what has to happen and how he’s accepted it. There are certainly still going to be struggles as Wash still has to deal with his cerebral hypoxia and all the consequences that come with it. S18 is probably NOT going to be fun for him. But this time, he has proper support and this time, Carolina will be honest and help him through it. And while I hope that other characters are given some spotlight, I’m excited to see what’s in store for these two in the future.

                                             __________________

Honorable Mentions

These are things that I enjoyed, but I either don’t have a lot to say or weren’t as important as other things.

Machinima: Very well directed, especially considering how many different Halo’s that they had to use. Josh and Austin nailed it.

Animation: Good as always, even if more sparse

Voice Acting: Amazing as always with special mention to Dan Godwin, Shannon McCormick, Jen Brown, Ricco Fajardo, and Lee Eddy.

Huggins Lives: While I hate how they treated her character, I’m still happy that this ball of sunshine is alive and well.

Caboose Beating Up Genkins: So, SOOOO satisfying!

Carolina vs Carolina: Such a badass fight! Didn’t find it as good as the Donut vs O’Malley fight last year, but it was still freakin’ awesome and I loved it!

Tucker in Episode 9: While I strongly disagree that Tucker was poorly done in S16 and I personally don’t think that this was necessary, it’s still a nice scene that brings it all back around and has Tucker remember what being a leader truly means.

Memory Lane: It was nice to see some of the old moments again. I may hate nostalgia banking, but they did it better than most and it had a purpose, so I’m good with it!

The Villains: Genkins was such a delightfully vile but fun villain and I hate yet love him so much! Same with Chrovos, who was such a boastful and over-dramatic but charismatic villain. Plus Lee Eddy. Loved them and while it still hurts my brain, the finale twist was superb.

Funeral Cannon: Enough said.

Okay, I think that’s it. Now we can move onto Number One. And from the moment that I began planning these lists out, I knew that this was going to be at the top. So without further ado!

                                             __________________

#1. Donut FINALLY Became A Character

If you read my Top 5 Things I Liked About RvB: The Shisno Paradox, you recall that I said that Donut used to be my least favorite among the Reds and Blues because, imo, he served no purpose up to that point. Then S16 happened, and i FINALLY began to see value in his character again and he shot up multiple spots. I knew that S17 was probably going to address more with him since S16 was more of a build up… and holy shit, they exceeded my expectations.

Donut finally got to show how good of a character that he can be. He realized his flaws, like his innuendo spewing and how he can’t get anyone to listen to him. He showed some of the early competency he demonstrated in Blood Gulch and how when actually given the chance, he can be smart and useful. He also displays a huge amount of emotional maturity with how he pointed out to Wash that Carolina literally broke time for him and how despite being angry at the Reds and Blues for treating him like garbage over the years, he still puts the mission first and doesn't allow the anger to control him. The only time that he lets it overcome him in Episode 7… and he had VERY good reason to since Sarge was threatening to execute him (aka being a HUGE hypocrite /points to S15/) and was overall still being disrespected despite going through time to save them all. His rant at them was very much warranted and years in the making and as someone who has felt disrespected and ignored by my friends and family, it felt SO cathartic.

Joe clearly wanted to give Donut more attention in S16, especially since him being majorly underutilized was a big complaint about S15. He perfectly wrote up the blueprints, and Jason perfectly built the structure. I do have some concerns. Like the season had EVERYTHING revolve around Donut. Like the Reds and Blues were Damsels in Distresses for like… 90% of it and Donut had to keep saving them, and I don’t want that to keep being a thing. It’s pushing God Mode too much and Donut is still a flawed person who can still slip up, be TMI, and be a naive idiot. But we’ll have to see how S18 plays out… except… maybe not…

What do I mean? If you recall, at the end of S17 Donut decided to leave. Which you know what? Good. Not because I want him to go, but after all of this, he earned it. I’m still not convinced that the Reds and blues apology in Episode 8 was genuine because of how fast it was, plus Donut went through enough shit just for them. I think that him getting away for a while and worrying about himself for once is the perfect next step for his character and unlike the other times where Donut was gone, maybe we’ll actually get to see how the characters deal with it, especially after how this season went. Only time will tell, but I think that this was a good way to end Donut’s arc. IDK what they’ll do with him next or if we’ll be seeing him anytime soon, but for now? Good job writers!

Also, Donut embraced being Pink. Hell yes!

                                             __________________

S17 was one Hell of a season. A lot of its flaws frustrate me. Like… really frustrate me. But it still had a lot of good. It had good character development. It had good ideas. It was really funny and knew when to be emotional. It’d pacing… well, it wasn't perfect, but I’ve seen worse. And the characters, despite me having issues, still felt like the characters and I was still happy to see them all again. I’m still going through RvB withdrawal. 2020, hurry up!

So yeah, those are my Top 5 Things That I Liked About RvB: Singularity. A season that, despite the flaws, I still love. It was nice to revisit this one, even if it wasn’t that long ago. As I said, I have plans for what to do when S18 approaches since I did these posts earlier than normal.  But we’ll worry about that then. For now, thank you all for reading! Catch you all later!

#rvb #rvb reviews

[cerealmonster15]

How about Leo for that character thing?

ffffuck yes i have to put this one in a readmore bc i got carried away listing like 800 leo quotes 

How I feel about this characterhes one of my favorite royal sibs!!!!! probs tied with elise and takumi? or possibly my most fave?????? i was sad the whole time birthright bc i missed him and elise the whole time,,,, now that im playing conquest im sad bc i miss takumi lol. i love my tomato brother ;w; but he (and xander) is like the funniest fuckin character, oh my god. i love him so much. he makes me cry with laughter half the time he opens his mouth. hes this snarky little snob and he can’t dress himself for shit bc his clothes are always inside out or backwards (me too actually. every time i realize my shirt’s on wrong im instantly like Wow Leo Vibes). i love how in birthiright near the end theres this important emotional scene and hes gotten rid of iago and corrins like “hhhhey leo,,,? ur shirts inside out” and he just goes “DAMN IT.” his shop voice lines sound like a really sarcastic customer service voice. “Welcome. Goodbye~!”. so do xander’s??? i fucking die every time one of them is manning a shop oh my god i love themhis alts in feh make me s c r e a m hes so damn funny and dramatic.summer leo:“[grumbly voice] TANLINES… what, torture.”“If you are disappointed by these results then give me clothes”“Hot… beaches?hHHRRNNNNNN[aHEM], hate them.”“Tropical islands? Forget it! And this swimsuit? [snobby laughing tone] DONT even get me STARTED!”“Hey, if you like tropical islands, that’s fine. Maybe it’s not as bad as[randomly starts laughing???] I say.” like is he trying to be chill about it but just cant hold it together because the very idea of  a tropical idea is so absurd to him ?? hes so fuckign weird i love himGOD my ultimate favorite leo quote ever of all time tho is: “I actually like walking a beach at night. But… swim? In the ocean? [laughter, maybe nervous laughter i cant fucking tell] With my body?!?!???” WITH MY BODY?? i love him what the helland then he does that thing in the lvl40 five star convo where hes like “id be as red as a tomato if i got a sunburn???? fuck, how could i hate the sun if thats the case??? maybe ill go right now-” god hes so weird. i love that line regular leo does thats like “you’d never guess what vegetable really catches MY fancy! ………tomatoes…….”and then picnic leo omg. i probably screamed when i saw he was a free unit this spring i was SO HAPPY [as much as i love summer leo i dont actually have him and i cry that his banner hasnt returned this summer yet ;c]he grumbles when u poke him. he goes MMMMMM when you pick him up to take his turn. he complains about the sun, AGAIN.“i’m not used to this much sunlight! it’s…. nnggggg,,, blINDing..”“[offended voice] why are you being so SNEAKY? THIS is a PICNIC!” HhhhhhHHHHHH god lmao“[very proud voice] How does it taste? It must delicious, given I made it mySELF!” “What about this? I had my retainers prepare it for us.“ ik a lot of people say this contradicts his first line and one of them is a fucking lie, but i like to think this just means he made lunch with odin and niles and they did different parts and it’s soooooooooooooooooo cute to think about him cooking with his boys ;w; also he sounds so proud here too. hes so proud of his retainers and hes like “heh, mine are the best, they made this great food arent they wonderful i love them so much”“You want…to try some of my cooking? [gasp sigh huffy noise??] If you insist…” hes so excited someone wants to eat his cooking but he cant let anyone Know he has emotions lollies down… maybe leo really is my top fave LOL i just love his lines so much. i want to high five his voice actor for the delivery on these lines. that’s not even going into some of his supports in warriors that ive watcheed on youtube [plz everyone needs to see the one with frederick and leo. it always has me in tears. theyre SO FUNNY together ldjsfgbgf]chapter leo of birthright is probs one of my favorite chapters in fates. it was HARD AND ANNOYING but the dialogue made me weepy 

All the people I ship romantically with this characterodin and niles are fave….. they make a cute ot3!! i love how much he appreciates and cares for them and theyre all so good for each other… mr uptight leo and his chaos incarnate retainers to bring out his very secret dorky side… my BOYS!!!  i could go on and on about them for many paragraphs but this is already way too long lmfao oopsi also like leo and takumi of course lol. i havent played revelations yet but ive seen bits of their supports and also i just love the bickering enemies to lovers trope lol. this is my favorite panel from the 4koma comics

My non-romantic OTP for this characteri love the familial bonds between all the nohrian siblings but so far leo and elise is my fave sibling duo,,, but im biased bc so far ive only gotten theirs and camilla/xander’s lol. but even in hoshido i like the younger sibs plus older sibs duos. the idea of closeness in age forming a special bond is cute to me. i also like corrin and leo as having a close sib bond since they seem close in age! i know theres [remembers graveyard chapter of birthright again and starts sobbing] some underlying angst of him envying all the doting on corrin his siblings do and he feels ALONE AND I CRY, but he also was very fond of corrin, and i remember the end of birthright where camilla totally calls him out saying how he was saying how nice it was to get to see corrin again ;w; i’d like to think they were close!and of course i like leo and camilla’s relationship…. thinks about end of birthright and sobs… at least they have each other ;o;i need to get more leo supports actually… i want to see every support convo but theres only so much time CRIES 

My unpopular opinion about this characterIDK if this counts bc i feel like it’s half and half but i am not a fan of shipping corrin specifically with him or any of the other nohrian/hoshidan royals. like i totes get wanting to marry him as a character, buuuuuuut like i personally was not about to do that when our protagonist was his adopted sibling??????????? no thank you?!?!?!?!????? my friends and i read through the s-support convos for all of them on the wiki once and just…died the whole time bc theyre SO AWKWARD AND WEIRD “i was hiding my FORBIDDEN FEELINGS for you, PERSON I THOUGHT WAS MY SIBLING, my WHOLE LIFE, but now that ur NOT MY BLOOD RELATED FAMILY we can GET MARRIED, even tho weve still been calling you sister/brother casually this whole game” i CRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY IT’S WEIRDDDDDDDand like i dont think thats really an unpopular opinion but i see enough corrin/royals art to think it’s unpopular enough i guesstho i imagine there are some people that chose to marry the royal sibs and also think it’s weird but they just love the character and sat there like “ew stop dont talk about  that” loltho some people are like “it’s not technically inc/est-” like,,,, it kinda still is tho HHHH GROSSANYWAY

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.I mean with all video games i wish bein gay was more legal. i want to s-support all the royals to their counterparts. let leo hold takumi’s hand, which would probs turn into a competition of who can squeeze the hardest until they break each other’s bones bc theyre stupid, but plz. i want this. let hoshido and nohr form ultimate peace bc all their royal fams married.also i dont know the full situation with forrest bc i havent unlocked him but from what ive heard i wish leo was nicer about CERTAIN THINGS in their…. i guess recruitment chapter ? supports? i hear in some of japan’s dlc or a drama cd or something he comes around and is more accepting but still, if that’s not the case in US game i wish it WAS!!!ALSO i wish the sibs could have support convos with each others kids. like even if it was just the main royals kids getting to talk to their aunts and uncles i think that’d be CUTE !!!!!WAIT ALSO on the wiki, leo, niles, and odin all have unused quotes from the endgame. it seems like theyre in the part of the game where you got knocked the fuck out and hung out in the afterlife for a bit with ur dead friends and family and then everyone in the real world is shouting at u to get up off ur ass and come finish the fight. im wondering if that means leo and his retainers were originally supposed to join you in your final battle, even tho you were siding with hoshido? i wouldve loved that and cried twice as hard..... 

[x]

#HELP this was the first thing i did this morning #awoken by my insane amount of love for leo #unapologeticbisexual #asks

[hdawg1995]

My Stardew Valley started flipping out cause i was playing it for 14 hours strait and it legit did some creepy pasta stuff so heres a creepy pasta

reality: somewhere around hour 10 Kent’s sprite only loaded half way (his eyes and up) or not at all. Willy was just a shadow- even when interacting with him. at one point he phased though Haley (and it was the only time his sprite was fully visible) side note: me and my sister declared willy a ghost because the fishing in my game was such lack luster. Gunther was probably the same since i never saw him at the museum but was still able to donate. lastly Alex glitched though a already glitched haley- she was on the beach even though her schedule wouldn’t have put her there. i wasn’t able to interact with her but a part of me wonders if i went to her house (where she was suppose to be) if i would see her shadow and would be able to interact with her there, but i was too far in a “yup. totaly writing a creepy pasta about this now” mood.

The Creepy pasta:

i really don’t know what to say now other than everyone was right- a game about a fun little town in a sleepy valley being secretly evil? yeah, its true. 

i was playing Stardew Valley one day with my sister- i had woken up in a sour mood and i wanted to cheer myself up. at one point she came by and hung out with me, watching me play on my farm and the normal day to day antics with the pelican town NPCs. we were laying on my bed since it was the only place comfortable enough to play on the laptop for hours on end.

i lost track of time. everything felt too real, like i was getting lost in the game. this is normal, but i knew there was something wrong when it took my sister kicking me in the head snap me out of it.

“oh my god i’m so sorry! i meant to nudge you!” she declared and it was fine, really, but when i glanced back at the screen Harvey was talking to me. i don’t even remember interacting with him- must have clicked him when i get hit in the head. it seemed normal enough; he was mentioning he was having trouble making ends meet so he’ll have to get patients from somewhere else. 

i went back to playing as we chatted about nothing when something struck me.

“hey...” i asked my sister as i paused the game. “Doesn’t harvey normally say he’ll find patients from the nearby towns?” she blinked a few times at me then silently checked the wiki.

there wasn’t an answer there, so we shrugged it off. wouldn’t be the first time NPCs change their dialog. Sebastian mentions that me and sam are his only friends after so many hearts.

speaking of which, i wanted to give him a present today. i had forgotten the quarts at the farm so i rounded back, heading past Sam’s house. i got lost in the game again- it was like the only thing i could hear was the game, the only thing i could feel was the cobble stone under my feet but that wasn’t right- i was in bed.

when i walked by Sam’s house Kent walked out. i smiled and talked to him only... His sprite wasn’t there in the dialog box. his text was also jumbled and didn’t make sense. the prompt to continue the conversation came up and when i clicked it the text was less garbled but Kent’s image was just his eyes. he said “I’ll watch out for you”. 

i snapped out of it at that. i looked over at my sister to ask her if that was normal (it wasn’t) but she seemed so transfixed on the screen it was my turn to snap her out of it. i smacked her on the head and she flinched but seemed alright.

“sorry, i meant to nudge you.” i joked, but she didn’t seem to hear me. “I thought Kent came back from war?” she questioned and i tilted my head. “Umm. yeah he does, in year two...” i turned back to the screen and Kent was gone.

“You were just talking to Sam- he said his dad died?” 

we both stared at each other before taking out our phones to chick the wiki. sure enough it says Kent returns in year two- alive.

we decide my games glitched and i keep playing while my sister makes a bug report. it took me far too long to realize dialog nor included in the game showing up out of no where- and for only ONE person for that matter- was anything BUT a bug. by the time i got to the farm and had gotten the quarts for Sebastian the report had been sent and my thoughts died in my throat. 

a few in game days later i realize Harvey has been acting weird; hes been following Haley around. i don’t pay much attention to the doctor (Sam, Sebastian, and Shane being my favorites i tended to look out for them, not so much HAley or Harvey) but i didn’t think they shared a pattern at all.

i brushed it off and decided to head down to the beach. Alex’s cut scene triggered so i say back and watched. it seemed normal until his sprite changed to the surprised looking one.

“Did you hear a scream just now?”

>no? what scream? >.... >yeah! it sounded like Haley!

my sister swore and looked up the wiki again. con confirm: not part of the cut scene. i thought for a moment and decided that no, i didn’t hear anything (but i really hadn’t). Alex seemed worried and went to investigate. the scene ended but Ale wasn’t on the beach anymore. i was really starting to freak out and debated turning off the game. before i could exit to the desktop i got lost in the game again- the fishing mini game is the devil but i mastered it none the less. i didn’t even remember casting my rod. 

it was getting late so i headed home. Harvey was standing on the bridge to the beach. i didn’t talk to him since it was mid night. i needed to get home.

when i woke up it all seemed normal. i decided to take the fish i got last night and sell them to willy. i wasnt sure how to get the fishing scene in the valley more lively like he’ll some times says so i figured if i sold the fish directly to him it would help. when i went down to the beach i saw haley but she wouldn’t talk to me. she stared out at the ocean, her dialog box just dots. her expression sad.

when i went to see willy he wasn’t there. at first i thought i was at the dock at the wrong time, but something cold pressed against my arm and i snapped up out of the game and looked at my sister- she was holding the Gatorade she had gotten earlier to my arm.

“you were ignoring me again. Sib i think somethings seriously wrong with your game”.

i agreed but i couldn’t stop playing. i explained this and she got worried, fiddling with her phone again.

i can’t stop playing. i have to keep playing. 

“hey” she got my attention. “theres this stardew turmblr account -joja apologist. they have a farmer whos a demon.”

“cool.” i kept playing. i should give Sam a present. “No listen they’re making posts about their stardew game acting weird.”

i tried to turn to face her but thats all i did- face her. my eyes were locked on the screen as Kent walked by. i went to talk to him again and the same thing happened- jumbled words and no sprite and then just his eyes and the declaration that he’ll watch out for me.

“They did Harvey started attacking people so they would HAVE to go to him for meds and stuff.” she sounded worried so i hummed in reply. 

then i remembered Alex’s broken cut scene.

“Haley!” i scrambled over to her house and found a cut scene waiting for me. in it Harvey was telling Emily something. my farmer walks up to them and Harvey greets me, but his portrait is distorted some- he has wide eyes and a grin that seems to reach his ears. he asks me to try and comfort Emily- she just lost her sister.

I felt sick at the thought; this was wrong. very very wrong.

<But i saw her the other day. <no... no not Haley.... <*give Emily a hug*

My sister stared dumbfounded at the screen. i asked her if that tumblr blog saw anything like this and she begins scrolling. as im watching her i’m faintly aware of a sound... like dripping or maybe clicking? i glance at the screen and scream, shooting up and off my bed as Harvey’s portrait changed to have hyper realistic eyes and teeth. the eyes were blood shot and seemed to follow me and my sister as we shifted on the bed to get away from the laptop.

“w-what the FUCK” she yelled. i clung to her protectively, thoroughly convinced his digital doctor was off his possibly very real rocker and could possibly do something to us.

the mouse moved on its own now. it selected to give Emily a hug and the farmer did just that. the cut scene went on, Harvey’s portrait no longer the disturbing version (well it was still disturbing with the wide eyes and chestier grin but at least now it was pixels again). he said he did all he could for Haley and that he was sorry. he then left my farmer and Emily alone.

“Turn it off.” my sister stated as we continued to stare at the screen. “Turn it off.” I nodded numbly and didn’t even both with the proper exit and just held the power button down. 

only it didn’t work.

i held it down for what felt like forever but the laptop was still alive- and it was midnight again.

“Oh fuck no...” She whispered and i scrambled to get my farmer home. when the day ended and the game saved and felt a lump form in my throat. what if Haley is forever dead in my save now? and what about willy? and...

“Wait wheres Alex?” i muttered as i went to town. i bumped into pam and in my frantic scrambling clicked her. to my horror she looked scared. “Did you hear? Alex nearly drowned at the beach! to think, wouldn’t a guy as athletic as him know how to swim?” she then went on her way. i paused for a moment directed my farmer to town again. Alex walked out of the clinic and when i talked to him he seemed fine. gave the normal dialog too.

“Why the hell are you still playing?” My sister shouted from behind me- i didn’t even notice I've scooted directly in front of the laptop, blocking her view. “I thought you were going to exit the game.”

thats right. yeah. turn it off. right.

then Harvey walked out. his sprite was normal but it felt like it was watching me. curious, i moved my farmer down towards Sam’s house. to my horror Harvey was following me.

“Holy shit. HOLY SHIT!” my sister grabbed me and shook me hard. “Holy Shit turn it off! turn it off!”

i stopped my farmer and opened the menu and screamed when i saw Harvy moving towards him even when the game was paused. i unpaused it in time for him to be stopped right next to my innocent little farmer. i kept moving towards Sam’s house.

“Holy shit...” my sister whispered. i told her to check the blog and she did.  “What are you going to do?” she asked, her eyes transfixed on her phone.

“Kent is watching out for me.” i reminded her as i entered Sam’s house.

as i expected, there was a cut scene. in it Sam was playing his guitar and Vincent was in the kitchen. Kent walked out and when he saw my farmer he ran over.

“Hes after you now, isn’t he?” he two eyes of the veteran with PTSD looked though the screen at us. i nodded. “Talk to Sam. you have enough hearts with him.” and he was gone, cut scene over.

i looked over and my sister and she nodded, confirming that the blog said something simular- they were instructed to talk to Gus though. i ran strait to Sam’s room and the door opened then closed behind it. Sam stopped playing his guitar and walked over to my farmer.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be safe.” he said. Sebastian stopped playing the key boards and walked over to my farmer as well. i didn’t even notice Sebastian in the cut scene.

“Thats because i wasn’t there.” his dialog box popped up. “Harvey thinks i’m at home.”

both me and my sister just stared at the screen. Sebastian... heard me? we didn’t have much time to think about it as the sound of a crash and something hitting something very hard was heard. My farmer moved on his own with Sam and Seb following him.

outside of Sam’s house was Harvey- the creepy hyper real version- and Kent. Harvey was crawling away and Kent looked like he had just been to war again. when Harvey's sprite was off screen Seb and Sam gave my farmer a hug before they turned to face the screen. Kent joined them, his portrait going back to normal.

“You can close the game now.” he said. “S-Save it first!” Sam interrupted. “If you don’t he’ll chase you again!”

my sister had taken the mouse from me and was directing the farmer back to the farm. we saved and closed the game.

#stardew valley #creepy pasta #i made an attempt #rambles

[miyaio]

desu2!!

desu 2 meta brings out the tl;dr beast in me b/c i’m always thirsty to talk excessively abt this game.

My favorite parent-child relationship

- i think otome and koharu win by default, tho io’s brief scene w/her mother and the background we get on her relationship w/her parents is v heart-wrenching.  i love the way otome’s single mom status is depicted–it feels very nuanced and sympathetic, without shying away from the way having parenthood thrust upon her would realistically impact otome’s life and koharu’s.  when otome mentions in tri arc that she misses being koharu’s mother, despite how selfish that would be (as it would come in exchange for her cousins’ lives), i teared up, ngl.  koharu herself is also really precious, tho i wish we had a consistent appearance for her–it seems to change between vanilla desu 2, ds2a, and tri arc?  

runner-up goes to airi and her dad, despite the fact that she thinks he’s dead.  the dera-deka sub-arc is well-worth doing at least once, imo.  it made me bawl, and it’s also necessary for 100% compendium completion.

My favorite sibling relationship

- can i say saiduq and the other septentriones?  yamato and miyako are the only sibs we see onscreen (tho airi mentions having a little brother), but tbh, i’m more interested in miyako’s side than i am in yamato’s.  what goes on in the septentriones’ minds–if they even have “minds” as people would perceive the concept–is fascinating to me, and i really wonder what saiduq thinks abt his former “siblings”.  does he simultaneously pity and envy them for lacking his autonomy?  does he see them as extensions of polaris’ will that deserve to be beaten down by humans?  the denizens of the akasha stratum are one of my fav aspects of desu 2′s worldbuilding, so i’m always hungry for meta on them.

My favorite family relationship (other)

- airi and ronaldo in a found family situation………  i love the way their dynamic develops, w/neither one aware of how strong a connection they really share.  i do wish we’d had more of them bonding over their memories of airi’s dad (which i’ve always hc’d as happening at least on egalitarian route), but seeing how similar the two of them really are is always cute.  airi loves her gay uncle 2k17

My favorite friendship between two people

- uffff this is so hard b/c i like a lot of my ships b/c of their friendships……..  ig i’d make it a tie between hibiki + daichi and jp’s trio’s dynamic as a whole?  even tho jp’s trio isn’t two people, haha.  one thing i really like abt hibiki in comparison to like, every male protag ever, is that it’s p heavily implied that he’s not popular at all.  the one thing ds2a did right was hibiki’s backstory, which i think still fits in w/gameverse!hibiki’s description as someone w/a “blank” past.  his friendship w/daichi and the relationships he forms w/the main cast mean a lot more in the context of daichi really being his only close friend at the start of the game, imo.  s/t i love abt hibiki + both daichi and io is that their friendships are based on equity, abt hibiki supporting the others and working w/them as equals to help them realize what wonderful ppl they are in their own right, rather than him being the ultra-charismatic authority who’s always Cool and in control.  like, this is the guy who has such Serious dialogue options as “RAINBOOOOOOW!!” and “tell everyone yr gay for yamato”.  hibiki being really isolated from most ppl aside from daichi feeding into his decision to pursue the human admin end of br is a meta for another time, ig.

jp’s trio’s various relationships are all v interesting, in terms of the spokes of the triangle and all three of them together.  it’s really refreshing to see that kind of dynamic between adult women who are professionals–their bond feels a lot less??  transient than it might between yet another group of high schoolers.  you get the sense that all three of them being adults is what lets their friendships bloom and be so important to them, as the people they were in high school are hardly the same people they are now.  the event in tri arc where fumi and makoto take care of a fatigued otome and tell her that she can lean on them, too, really made an impact on me.  all three of them play off of each other so well in a variety of settings, and it lends a v mature, multifaceted air to their dynamic.  otome taking a different faction than fumi and makoto, and how different fumi and makoto’s own reasons for joining yamato are, is also worth mentioning in that the three of them aren’t always in agreement, and that’s a part of friendship, too.  

My favorite friendship between a group

- team nagoya………  i’ll be the first to say that i dislike both the extremist routes.  whether or not the writers intended to make the player feel that way is subjective, and may well depend on where a player falls on the smt alignment continuum, or even on desu 2′s version of that continuum.  either way, i at least liked egalitarian better than meritorious b/c team nagoya has such a strong rapport w/one another, compared to the cognitive dissonance-riddled mess that is team osaka.  based on their dialogue from any daichi route, the members of team nagoya definitely know they’re not necessarily vying for the best solution to their very legitimate concerns.  they’re a lot easier to sympathize with b/c their grievances are very real–as joe says in “dream’s end”, while society may be growing less prejudiced over time, for many people, there is no time to “wait for things to get better”.  the problem lies much more in going thru polaris to make a change, as the ending p clearly (and horrifyingly) demonstrates that polaris just uses team nagoya’s passion for its own ends.  

at any rate, the interactions between the four of them are great, from ronaldo and airi’s aforementioned dynamic, to joe and otome’s complimentary playful attitudes, to how airi represents the future that all three adults are fighting for.  it’s really telling that team nagoya consists of three adults and one teenager–otome puts it most clearly in her post-defeat dialogue on daichi routes when she says that she was fighting desperately (yet short-sightedly) for the future of the world’s children.  imo, airi really represents that future to the three adults, as a teenager who has already had so many doors closed in her face due to inequity.  airi’s own stubbornness, selective self-flagellation, and issues w/moving on aside, schooling in particular really is s/t that can shape a child’s entire life, and i’m sure ronaldo, joe, and otome realize that.  so seeing how well all four of them interact w/each other and how airi represents both the best and the worst of team nagoya’s ideals def makes them my fav faction.

My favorite mentorship

- speaking of airi’s interactions w/the adult cast, makoto + airi is so good…..  i love how constructive makoto is w/airi, giving her the tools she needs to move forward in life w/o telling her to get over it, or denying that airi’s been screwed over by forces well beyond her control.  makoto’s not a perfect mentor, but (as her name suggests), she’s honest w/airi, and owns up to it when she reacts too harshly.  i think it’s great to see makoto helping someone in a way she knows for sure is right, in contrast to how uncertain her cognitive dissonance abt other issues in sep arc must be making her feel.  on the flipside, airi gets to begin moving forward w/life again, which in turn contributes to helping her reconsider her own alienating abrasiveness (can you tell i like airi b/c she and severa are so similar……).  the moral of airi and makoto’s mentorship isn’t “never ever give up on yr dreams b/c you can only ever have one True goal in life”, nor is it “there’s no need to challenge injustices done unto you b/c if you don’t rock the boat, life will move on eventually”.  airi’s sub-arc comes to a more nuanced conclusion, and i don’t think she could’ve gotten there w/o makoto’s influence.

My favorite rivalry

- does hinako and yamato count?  i love how often she calls him out, and how she’s not afraid of him in the least.  while i doubt yamato sees hinako as much of consequence, she makes her beef w/him plain, w/o going “DIE HOUTSUIN MY JUSTICE IS SCREAMING” ala ronaldo www  her voice is much-needed in a lot of situations, too.  her confrontation w/yamato over whether or not he cherrypicked the results of the medium compatibility tests to get rid of io is really well-done, esp if you infer that hinako knows abt io’s own disastrous confrontation w/yamato earlier on friday.

My favorite hatred/antipathy

- while i know miyako and yamato don’t straight-up hate each other, their dynamic as enemies (or at least in opposition to one another) is great.  i’m not just saying this b/c i love seeing yamato get dragged, i promise–there really is just s/t satisfying abt miyako not taking his shit at all, despite her own cognitive dissonance and his valid points abt the futility of her plan.  yamato -> saiduq is also fairly interesting, tho ds2a bloated itself so much w/a tepid exploration of how their dynamic could potentially be explored that i’m not too keen on meta-ing it more.  yamato is kind of a hate sink amongst the cast, tbh www  saiduq’s own rebel angel-turned-usurper dynamic w/polaris is p unambiguous hatred, but it’s v interesting, given how saiduq feels he has no choice but to die as polaris’ sword on every other route.  really seeing him shuck that alcor designation (ppl who call saiduq by that name when he explicitly says he dislikes it still drive me bonkers in 2017) and take up heaven’s throne is v satisfying.

My favorite potential relationship between characters who never talk in canon

- do u have a moment to talk abt how we were robbed of more io-joe interactions………  if anyone’s actually read this far, you probably do lmao  in any event, i think this is mostly a limitation of how the fate system is constructed, and you can see the writers stretching and experimenting w/it in tri arc.  if future desu games expand into s/t like fe’s support system, where you can see the fate system-equivalents between all characters, sometimes w/o the protag even present, i think that’d be a great step forward.  i bring this up for one area in particular where i really wanted to see more joe-io interactions: on tuesday, after io’s parents die.  joe has a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it line in his own fate system w/hibiki abt how his own parents are dead, but it’s not framed in a more genre-typical “tragic orphan backstory” way.  it really raises the question about when someone whose parents have died is too old to be called an orphan, given that joe is only 25.  

this dialogue suggests that the losses are then fairly recent, tho joe writes them off w/his patent-pending brand of escape-avoidance.  for all his flakiness (his term), tho, joe really does try to fill a big brother role for tokyo trio, and this is where i think he and io could have some v fruitful interactions.  i think that most of the cast isn’t really faced w/the immediacy of the high likelihood that their families are dead, w/the exception of chars like joe, jungo, airi, and keita, who all lose parents prior to the game.  io, on the other hand, watches her mother die in her arms.  she displays astounding resilience and focus in how quickly she draws herself back together after the loss, despite her r5 confirming that she had pretty constant suicidal ideation throughout the rest of the week (and quite possibly before the game, too).  as joe is the closest to io out of the four aforementioned characters at that point in the game, i really, really would’ve loved to see his take on providing her comfort and guidance in the wake of her sudden loss.  i think it would’ve been a good set of conversations for both of them, especially if you buy into the reading that both joe and io let themselves die should the player fail to prevent their death clips.  in this respect, i’m interested in the similarities between joe and io, and i think a good heart-to-heart between them early on in the game would’ve led to a variety of other interactions.

#usamimi desu

[flootweed]

@misterbitches im finally responding to your posts lol sorry babes 😬

i think ive heard of tamara but i havent read that specific thing youre talking about. but yeah the power structures behind anti-asian racism are not perpetuated by black ppl def. and white supremacy has a greater effect on black ppl than asian ppl bc of ya know... history. thats some rlly interesting insight tho bc like the antiblackness in the asian community is seemingly often presented as a perfect parallel to anti-asian racism in the black community. 

moving on from depressing stuff .. the dubbing of the untamed is by different ppl which is why it fucked me up when i found out. like that wasnt their actual voices tf ??! both of the leads were idols so that probably was part of why they got the role lol but they’re also talented.

im sorry your college experience was like that it sounds like hell. 

ik i should say something if I feel i should but like i always think “maybe theres something im missing i dont want to talk out my ass” idk just how i am 

yesss im a large proponent of curating your own spaces i use the block button liberally. also just ignoring ppl who have meaningless opinions i disagree with. like i used to get myself in a tizzy in my head when i saw someone say something bad about something i like trying to justify to myself how theyre wrong. now im just like idc lol. 

i live in a city with a lot of out of state tourists and i just get to clean up after them for $11/hr 🙃

im def guilty of sometimes believing whatever leftist analysis i dee on the tl i really need to do start reading more theory/history but ive become illiterate. i learned about the stuff your referring to in a class last year but like im not gonna get into all that its just very complex.

atots is very romantic as a pisces it makes me want to die. ive never heard that story about SOPHIE thats lovely.

lol i lowkey tend to look at vague spoilers before watching any bl bc im picky and dont want to waste my time on something shitty its worked pretty well for me so far. your past obsession w/ lady gaga is understandable tbh. but yeah ive been waiting for all this to blow up in sibs face. i have no idea whats gonna happen tomorrow in the next ep. like obv gene is gonna forgive him but im excited to see his grovel. yeah i like up’s acting even tho his crying isnt my favorite bc he has great expressions. kao is eh. he was similarily as meh in uwma tho so i wasnt expecting much from him. i think tharn’s actor (mew) got so much worse about that pausing thing in season 2 it was terribleee. also i think tyoe’s actor (mew) is good but thats mostly bc i think he’s gorgeous. 

i dont think mhok and aey are stepbrothers but idk for sure. im thinking mhok is either a childhood friend or aey’s sisters bf. oh yeah fuck his sister. its probably partly bc hes gay but his father mentioned him being evil which ig can be referring to him being gay but idk. 

i liked color rush it had a unique premise. oooh i saw mr heart and to my star too. i think you already know my wbl thoughts so yeah ... i love shu yi and his dad needs to fuck off. i think the first season flowed much better than the current one. 

aw i feel like everyone like uwma for winteam but i love the main couple. fluke had to cry multiple times every episode and he did wonderfully. lol hes not the pale one who died tho that actor is earth/cooheart. he also cries a lot tho. fluke and earth are actually both openly gay irl love that. 

ah so its like the giver and the receiver. thats so stupid. makes me think of this political philosopher i read recently who thinks of marriage as inherently oppressive to women. which like .. word !!

yeah i used to read rpf but like it just doesnt align with my morals i cant. even if i dont think theyre real it still feels weird. lol i just watch from afar as stans think fanservice and queerbaiting mean these ppl are actually together lmao.

i just want gay ppl to be employed. if theyre selling the fetishization of gay men to girls then the gays need a cut of the check. the replacing a straight relationship with two men is why im fine when a bl has a homophobia storyline bc that gives it less straight vibes lmao. 

i still think about that scene in itsay where the gay one tries on his moms bra bc he thinks that what the other dude would want. and then has a breakdown bc thats not him. WOW art !! the girl was def utilized well in itsay i loved her. i havent seen my engineer but she sounds lovely. tiffy my love ... OKAY DONE